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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Screening for Proximal Lower Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis
Published on: February 10, 2023
The first ambulatory screening on thromboembolism: a multicentre, cross-sectional, observational study on risk
G Di Minno1, P M Mannucci, A Tufano
1Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Policlinico Federico II, University of Naples, Naples, Italy. diminno@unima.it
Objectives:
To assess the prevalence of risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and the prevalence of recent (<1 year) VTE [including superficial vein thrombosis (SVT), deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE)] amongst patients attending general practitioner (GP) surgeries.
Design:
Multicentre, cross-sectional, observational study.
Setting:
A total of 1536 GP surgeries.
Participants:
A total of 15 180 adult, co-operative subjects, who had consulted their GP for a health disorder and signed the informed consent form.
Interventions:
None.
Main Outcome Measures:
Prevalence of known VTE risk factors graded according to importance and prevalence of recent (<1 year) VTE events (including SVT), based on interviews.
Results:
About 1:5 patients had at least one strong risk factor and about 1:20 had at least two risk factors, with no difference between sexes. The prevalence of strong risk factors increased with age. Most were related to medical conditions: history of SVT and/or DVT/PE, heart failure and malignancy. About 3:4 women and 2:3 men had at least one moderate to weak risk factor; nearly 1:2 women and 1:3 men had at least two moderate to weak risk factors. The most common were: history of VTE, smoking, history of miscarriage, estrogen therapy, obesity, and varicose veins. Overall, 80% women and 67% men had at least one risk factor, and 50% women and 35% men had at least two risk factors. The prevalence of recent (<1 year) VTE was 3.4% in women and 2.4% in men, and increased with age. The majority of cases were SVT in both sexes (2.5% in women and 1.5% in men).
Conclusions:
The prevalence of risk factors for VTE amongst patients attending GP surgeries is high. GPs should bear this in mind during their daily practice.
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Pulmonary Embolism I: Introduction