Incidence of clinically suspected venous thromboembolism in British Indian patients

Introduction Venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains a major public health issue around the world. Ethnicity is known to alter the incidence of VTE. To our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature investigating the incidence of VTE in British Indians. The aim of this study was to investigate the rates of symptomatic VTE in British Indian patients in the UK. Methods Patients referred to our institution between January 2011 and August 2013 with clinically suspected VTE were eligible for inclusion in the study. Those not of British Indian or Caucasian ethnicity were excluded. A retrospective review of these two cohorts was conducted. Results Overall, 15,529 cases were referred to our institution for suspected VTE. This included 1,498 individuals of British Indian ethnicity. Of these, 182 (12%) had confirmed VTE episodes. A further 13,159 of the patients with suspected VTE were coded as Caucasian, including 2,412 (16%) who had confirmed VTE events. VTE rates were a third lower in British Indians with clinically suspected VTE than in the equivalent Caucasian group. The British Indian cohort presented with VTE at a much earlier age than Caucasians (mean 57.0 vs 68.0 years). Conclusions This study suggests that British Indian patients have a lower incidence of VTE and are more likely to present at an earlier age than Caucasians. There was no significant difference in VTE type (deep vein thrombosis vs pulmonary embolism) among the ethnic groups. Clinicians should be aware of variations within ethnicities but should continue to adhere to existing VTE prevention guidance.