[Familial protein C deficiency and venous thrombosis]

Constitutional deficiency in C-protein appears to be a very often underestimated or unrecognized cause of thromboembolic disease. C-protein deficiency in a family (father, son and daughter) was associated with clinical manifestations of thrombosis (post-embolic cor pulmonale, fatal pulmonary embolism, post-partum phlebitis), all appearing before 35 years of age. These three cases confirm the absolute need for routine exploration of physiologic inhibitors of coagulation in all young patients with venous thrombosis.