Diagnosis and Management of VTE in Pregnancy

Venous thromboembolism is a leading cause of maternal death. Because of the low absolute frequency of events, however, outcome-based clinical data are limited. Consequently, clinicians must additionally rely both on published guidelines and on extrapolation of data from studies focused on nonpregnant individuals. The diagnosis and treatment of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and cerebral vein and dural sinus thrombosis are complicated by pregnancy, and often require modifications to standard diagnostic and treatment algorithms outside of pregnancy. Treatment of VTE in pregnant women is in particular need of future research.