Recurrence risk of idiopathic venous thromboembolism

For patients with idiopathic venous thromboembolism (unprovoked), the risk of recurrence is high. Secondary prophylaxis with anticoagulant therapy reduces the thrombotic risk but at the expense of an increased risk of haemorrhage. A number of factors, such as the male sex and an increase in dimer-D concentrations after completing the anticoagulation therapy, are associated with an increased risk of recurrence. Other factors such as residual venous thrombosis have a more controversial and sometimes contradictory relationship. A number of models have been proposed for predicting thrombotic recurrence risk after anticoagulation therapy in unprovoked TVD. However, these models need external validation to determine their current usefulness in clinical practice. In this article, we analyse the risk factors for thrombotic recurrence and the existing prediction models.