This article is a translation of Jpn J Phlebol 2014; 25: 34-42. Most patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) have restricted mobility capability and have been bedridden for long periods because of paralysis of the extremities caused by abnormal muscular tonicity due to cerebral palsy and developmental disabilities. Such patients are associated with a high risk of complications like deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Here, we report twelve patients (42.9%) with DVT among 28 patients with SMID during prolonged bed rest. However, we did not detect thrombosis in the soleal veins, finding it mostly in the femoral and common femoral veins. We applied anticoagulant therapy (warfarin), and carefully followed up the cases with DVT, regulating the warfarin dosage at prothrombin time-international normalized ratio (PT-INR) values around two to prevent recurrence of chronic thrombosis. Regarding laboratory data for the coagulation system, there were no cases above 5 µg/ml for the D-dimer and there were significant differences between the DVT and non-DVT groups in the D-dimer levels. The plasma levels of D-dimer in patients with DVT diminished to less than 1.0 µg/ml after warfarin treatment. Concerning sudden death (4.2%) in patients with SMID, we have to be very careful of the possibility of pulmonary thromboembolism due to DVT. Therefore, we should consider the particularity of the underdeveloped vascular system from underlying diseases for the evaluation of DVT. A detailed study of DVT as a vascular complication is very important for the smooth medical care of SMID, and serial assessment of compression Doppler ultrasonography of the lower extremities, as a noninvasive examination and measurement of D-dimer, is very helpful. (This article is a translation of Jpn J Phlebol 2014; 25: 34-42.)

Sudden death associated with patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) have been thought to be caused in part by venous thromboembolism (VTE), but actual situation of VTE in SMID is not clear. We examined the prevalence and location of deep venous thrombosis (DVT), and the relation of the development of crural veins in 16 patients with SMID, using ultrasonography. The maximum diameter of soleal vein was 1.6±0.5 mm. In most cases, DVT was found in the femoral veins. We could not detect thrombus in the soleal veins. In the present study, the detection ratio of DVT was high in patients with SMID who had restricted mobility capability and were bedridden, and we found the veins centrally from popliteal veins in DVT in SMID, not soleal veins, as the initial sites of the DVT. In the literature, the mean diameter of soleal veins, in healthy adults is 6.7±1.8 mm, that in contrast in SMID being smaller. Underdevelopment of intramuscular veins is possibly related to the mechanism of DVT in SMID. In the current guidelines for the management of VTE, there is limited in scope of ambulatory adults and no application cases who exhibit to SMID restricted mobility of the lower extremities and are bedridden associated with cerebral palsy and developmental motor disabilities, and such patients have associated high risk of the complications of DVT. According to our present study, it is necessary to provide appropriate guidelines for DVT in SMID considering characteristic features. (This is a translation of Jpn J Phlebol 2017; 28: 29–34.)

No abstract

Background Deep vein thrombosis and its progression to pulmonary thromboembolism is a major source of mortality in patients with neuromuscular disease. Furthermore, ventilator use poses a high risk of DVT to patients. Methods Hospitalized patients with neuromuscular disease who underwent tracheotomy with positive pressure ventilation (TPPV) had DVT evaluated in the lower extremities by ongoing whole leg venous ultrasonography. Patients who were diagnosed with DVT underwent a second ultrasonography 1 month later. The attending physicians decided on therapeutic measures. All patients were followed during the study period. Results Eight of 33 patients had DVT. The site of DVT formation was the iliac veins in three cases, femoral veins in two cases, and calf veins in three cases. All of the patients with DVT were asymptomatic. There was no difference in the clinical future between patients with DVT and those without DVT. Progression of DVT was not observed in the second ultrasonographic examination 1 month later. All patients with DVT had an excellent prognosis after a follow‐up period of 9 months. Conclusion The prevalence of DVT in patients with neuromuscular disease who undergo TPPV might be high. Further large studies on this issue are required because the clinical significance of this DVT is uncertain.