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The prevalence of incidental uterine venous plexus thrombosis in women attending a gynecology clinic
Author(s) -
Amin Tejal,
Cohen Hannah,
Wong Michael,
Goodhart Venetia,
Pointer SaraLouise,
Jurkovic Davor
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of thrombosis and haemostasis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.947
H-Index - 178
eISSN - 1538-7836
pISSN - 1538-7933
DOI - 10.1111/jth.14989
Subject(s) - medicine , odds ratio , venous thrombosis , confidence interval , obstetrics , obstetrics and gynaecology , thrombophilia , gynecology , logistic regression , cross sectional study , population , varicose veins , pregnancy , thrombosis , surgery , pathology , environmental health , biology , genetics
Background The uterine venous plexus (UVP) is an unusual site for venous thrombosis (VT). Our aim was to determine the prevalence of UVP thrombosis (UVPT) and identify associated risk factors. Methods We conducted a cross‐sectional study on consecutive nonpregnant women attending our general gynecology clinic with a wide variety of presenting symptoms over a 16‐month period. All women underwent a transvaginal ultrasound scan which involved detailed examination of the uterine venous plexus. Women diagnosed with incidental UVPT had thrombophilia screening, lower limb venous duplex imaging, and specialist hematological review. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between various risk factors and UVPT. Results We screened 1383 women, 39 of whom had an incidental UVPT, giving a prevalence of 3.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1%‐4.1%). Multivariate analysis showed positive associations between multiparity (odds ratio [OR] 5.75 [95% CI 2.10, 15.7]), recent surgery (OR 3.10 [95% CI 1.19, 8.07]), presence of leg varicose veins (OR 3.15 [95% CI 1.32, 7.49]), and a family history of venous thromboembolism (OR 8.74 [1.65, 46.4]) and negative associations between postmenopausal status (OR 0.36 [95% CI 0.13, 0.95]) and the development of UVPT. Thrombophilia was detected in 12.8% women diagnosed with UVPT. Conclusions The prevalence of incidental UVPT in a general gynecology population was 3.0%. Several demographic and clinical factors were found to be associated with UVPT. This could help to identify women at risk of this condition, and facilitate its early detection and development of evidence‐based management strategies.