Incidence of Pregnancy-Associated Venous Thromboembolism
Authors: Peter K. MacCallum, Enid M. Hennessey, Shohreh Beski
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2006)

Letters21 March 2006Incidence of Pregnancy-Associated Venous ThromboembolismPeter K. MacCallum, MD, Enid M. Hennessey, MSc, and Shohreh Beski, MDPeter K. MacCallum, MDFrom Barts and The London School of Medicine, London EC1 M6BQ, United Kingdom, and Royal London Hospital, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom.Search for more papers by this author, Enid M. Hennessey, MScFrom Barts and The London School of Medicine, London EC1 M6BQ, United Kingdom, and Royal London Hospital, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom.Search for more papers by this author, and Shohreh Beski, MDFrom Barts and The London School of Medicine, London EC1 M6BQ, United Kingdom, and Royal London Hospital, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-144-6-200603210-00017 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We congratulate Heit and colleagues (1) on their study on the incidence of venous thromboembolism during pregnancy and the puerperium. However, we take issue with their statement that the venous thromboembolic incidence was 3.6% and 1.5% in the first and second weeks postpartum, respectively, similar to the 2% to 5% incidence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism after elective hip replacement in patients not receiving prophylaxis. This seems unlikely when only 105 maternal cases of venous thromboembolism were diagnosed during pregnancy or postpartum in 50 000 births.This discrepancy relates to the method the authors have used to calculate the ...Reference1. Heit JA, Kobbervig CE, James AH, Petterson TM, Bailey KR, Melton LJ. Trends in the incidence of venous thromboembolism during pregnancy or postpartum: a 30-year population-based study. Ann Intern Med. 2005;143:697-706. [PMID: 16287790] LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Barts and The London School of Medicine, London EC1 M6BQ, United Kingdom, and Royal London Hospital, London E1 1BB, United Kingdom.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoTrends in the Incidence of Venous Thromboembolism during Pregnancy or Postpartum: A 30-Year Population-Based Study John A. Heit , Catie E. Kobbervig , Andra H. James , Tanya M. Petterson , Kent R. Bailey , and L. Joseph Melton III Incidence of Pregnancy-Associated Venous Thromboembolism Vijay Rajput and Huma Q. Rana Incidence of Pregnancy-Associated Venous Thromboembolism Paul D. Stein , Fadi Kayali , Allen Silbergleit , Russell D. Hull , Ronald E. Olson , and Frederick A. Meyers Incidence of Pregnancy-Associated Venous Thromboembolism John A. Heit , Kent R. Bailey , and L. Joseph Melton III Metrics 21 March 2006Volume 144, Issue 6Page: 453KeywordsBirthConflicts of interestHipPregnancyProphylaxisRisk managementSurgeryThrombosisVenous thromboembolism ePublished: 21 March 2006 Issue Published: 21 March 2006 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2006 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...