Hospitalized Patients at High Risk of Vein Clots

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That paper is slated for presentation at the meeting of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis in Geneva, which brings together more than 2,000 medical experts in the field.

"This paper should have an impact, because it shows the magnitude of the problem," said Goldhaber, who wrote an editorial accompanying the report in the journal.

Physicians have traditionally separated problems caused by in-hospital pulmonary embolism from those that occur at home, Goldhaber noted. But the dividing line may not be so clear.

"A study has shown that the mass of outpatients who develop pulmonary embolism had been hospitalized or had some medical procedure during the past 90 days," Goldhaber said. "So, we can no longer think of these as separate problems."

Sudden death outside the hospital usually is attributed to a heart attack or abnormal heart rhythm, Goldhaber said, and too often doctors may not take pulmonary embolism into account. "Many of these patients are being misdiagnosed," he said.

Data on the percentage of discharged hospital patients who are at risk of VTE and who get preventive treatment remains limited, Anderson said. "We just don't have the data, even though the potential for benefit or harm is significant," he said.

The risk is highest for people undergoing orthopedic surgery, such as hip or knee replacement, Anderson said. "About 9 of every 10 orthopedic surgery patients are at risk," he said.

Preventing VTE after hospital stays could have a significant public health impact, the expert added. "Here we have a preventable cause of death in hospital patients, and we should be trying to prevent it," Anderson said.

More information

The complexities of pulmonary embolisms are explained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.