[Activated protein C resistance--an evaluation of current status]

The discovery of APC resistance and of the factor V Leiden mutation brought a break-through in thrombosis research and has greatly improved our understanding of the pathogenesis of venous thrombosis. In particular, it became obvious that thrombotic disease is the result of multiple factors. However, many clinically relevant questions still remain unanswered: for instance, the individual risk of thrombosis for a gene carrier is difficult to assess, since only some of the factors which may finally lead to thrombosis are presently recognized as such. The functional tests which are in common use today have a number of drawbacks and will soon be replaced by improved methods.