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This disease has different risk results depending on population or gender. Below you can select the ones you belong to.
Venous Thromboembolism
The term venous thromboembolism (VTE) is used to collectively describe deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.
Please select a gender or population for your results.
This disease has different risk results depending on population or gender. Below you can select the ones you belong to.
Results can vary according to population and/or gender. Results currently based on:
European ancestry
When a blood clot (thrombus) forms inside a person´s vein, he or she is said to suffer from venous thrombosis. If the vein affected by a blood clot is deep inside the body, rather than close to the surface of the body, the condition is referred to as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and most often occurs in the veins of the legs or pelvis.
Patients with DVT are in danger of suffering a pulmonary embolism, which occurs when a venous blood clot breaks off (completely or partially), travels with the bloodstream and lodges in one of lung´s narrow arteries. The resulting blockage of blood flow can cause permanent damage to the affected lung, heart failure and death.
Individuals who suffer from either DVT or pulmonary embolism are collectively diagnosed as having venous thromboembolism (VTE). Each year, one out of 1000 individuals of European ancestry in the United States is diagnosed for the first time with VTE. About one-third of people with this condition experience a pulmonary embolism and one-third develops VTE again within ten years of the initial diagnosis. The proportion of people with VTE is likely to be underestimated as it is well recognized that a number of cases remain undiagnosed.
It is believed that a number of genetic factors contribute to the development of VTE. One of these is Factor V Leiden , a mutation in the Factor V gene on chromosome 1 that results in thrombophilia, or an increased tendency to form abnormal blood clots in blood vessels. Individuals with this mutation have a three to four-fold increased risk of developing VTE in their lifetime. The Factor V Leiden variant is quite common in populations of European ancestry, but less common in other ethnicity groups. Scientists have confirmed the association of two more variants on chromosomes 4 and 9 with increased risk of developing VTE.
The deCODEme Genetic Scan identifies the genetic variants listed above and uses them to provide customers of European descent with a personalized interpretation of their genetic risk for developing VTE.
At present, the scientific information needed to interpret the genetic risk for individuals of other ethnicities is not available. This information will be added as soon as it becomes available and we are assured of its quality.
This content was last reviewed on February 11, 2010.
