Adults, children at risk for blood clots

CHICAGO, March 31 (UPI) -- Deep vein thrombosis -- a blood clot -- poses a risk for everyone, not just for travelers on long flights, U.S. radiologists warn.

Dr. Suresh Vedantham, an interventional radiologist and professor of radiology and surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says patients and their doctors need to be aware that in the United States alone about 600,000 people are hospitalized with deep vein thrombosis each year and more than 100,000 people die of resulting pulmonary embolism -- blood clot in the lung.

"Deep vein thrombosis -- sometimes called economy class syndrome -- is not just a one-time complication from taking a long plane ride. It affects men, women and the elderly -- even children -- whether or not they travel," Vedantham told the Society of Interventional Radiology's 36th annual scientific meeting in Chicago.

In addition to long plane flights, the risk for deep vein thrombosis include prolonged immobility, recent surgery or major injury, hormone therapy, use of birth control pills, current or recent pregnancy, cancer and obesity.

The most serious complication is when a blood clot breaks off and travels to the lung where it can become trapped, blocking the oxygen supply, causing heart failure, which can be fatal, Vedantham says.