No abstract

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is the most common type of venous thromboembolism. Patients with DVT are at risk of developing potentially life-threatening complications, such as pulmonary embolism, but also long-term complications, including post-thrombotic syndrome and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.1 Current treatments for DVT focus on preventing clot expansion with anticoagulants and vasoactive drugs and by increasing venous blood flow through physical methods. However, anticoagulation cannot accelerate the natural thrombus resolution and reciprocally increases the risk of bleeding. Despite initial management of symptomatic acute events, patients remain at high risk for recurrence and predisposed to developing long-term complications. Transition of thromboembolic events to chronic disease is essentially caused by persistent inflammation resulting in delayed thrombus resolution, fibrosis, and vessel wall damage. Conclusions: T EM orchestrate the inflammatory response in venous thrombosis affecting thrombus resolution.

Health literacy plays a crucial role during pregnancy, as the mother’s health behavior influences both her own health and that of her child. To the authors’ best knowledge, no comprehensive overview on evidence of the health literacy of pregnant women and its impact on health outcomes during pregnancy exists. Therefore, this review aims to assess health literacy levels in pregnant women, whether health literacy is associated with outcomes during pregnancy and whether effective interventions exist to improve the health literacy of pregnant women. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed and EBSCO, resulting in 14 studies. The results show mixed levels of health literacy in pregnant women. Limited health literacy is associated with unhealthy behaviors during pregnancy. Mixed health literacy levels can be attributed to the recruitment site, the number of participants and the measurement tool used. Quality assessment reveals that the quality of the included studies is moderate to good. The review revealed that randomized controlled trials and interventions to improve health literacy in pregnant women are rare or do not exist. This is crucial in the light of the mixed health literacy levels found among pregnant women. Healthcare providers play a key role in this context, as pregnant women with limited health literacy rely on them as sources of health information.