In June 2012 CDC’s Division of Blood Disorders, NCBDDD issued a report of its analysis of 2007–2009 data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS). National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA) President, Randy Fenninger said that “this excellent analysis highlights the importance of DVT/PE as a major largely preventable public health problem in the U.S.” The following is a capsule of the importance of this analysis
What is already known on this topic?
Hospitalized patients are at increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE), which consists of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Many of the VTEs acquired by hospitalized patients are preventable.
What is added by this report?
During 2007–2009, an estimated annual average of 547,596 adult hospitalizations occurred for which a discharge diagnosis of VTE was recorded; 348,558 of these hospitalizations had a discharge diagnosis of DVT, and 277,549 had a discharge diagnosis of PE. A total of 78,511 had both discharge diagnoses.
What are the implications for public health practice?
VTE is an important public health concern. Greater efforts are needed to identify, develop, and implement VTE prevention strategies and to improve surveillance for VTE cases to reduce morbidity and mortality from VTE.
NBCA CEO, Alan Brownstein offered his congratulations to the Division of Blood Disorders, NCBDDD for analyzing and framing this data.
