Earlier and concurrent morbidity of patients with acute lower leg thrombosis

The morbidity of 143 patients aged 15-55 years suffering from lower leg thrombosis had been analysed and compared with that of a control material. Ninety-two per cent of the patients suffering from thrombosis had earlier undergone some form of medical care at the hospital. The corresponding figure for the control material was 56%. Of the patients, 6% had a malignant disease, 24% were postoperative, 8% had trauma or fracture of the thrombotic leg, 18% had defects in the fibrinolytic system (58% of those in whom the fibrinolytic defence mechanism was studied), 20% were alcoholics or drug addicts, 15% (31% of the females) had used oral contraceptives, 15% had had an earlier thrombosis of the leg, and 8% of the patients had been in bed with some innocuous disease. It was concluded that a thrombosis often arises in patients with a high earlier morbidity and that most often two or more different conditions may predispose the patients to the disease.