A complicated case of deep vein thrombosis

Abstract

We report a case of a patient with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) associated to portal vein thrombosis (PVT), complicated by hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP). The pathogenesis of DVT is multifactorial; among risk factors we can list: transitory situations (surgical interventions, infectious diseases with fever, traumas), acquired conditions (neoplasms, antiphospholipid syndrome) or genetically determined situations (thrombophilia). PVT of the sovrahepatic veins is responsible for 5-10% of portal hypertension cases in adults and can be associated to local or systemic infections. PVT is present in 10% of patients with cirrhosis and often associated to cancers. It can also complicate a surgery abdominal intervention. HAP is defined as pneumonia that appears for the first time within 48 h of hospital admission. In Internal Medicine Departments the incidence is 7-10 cases/1.000 of hospital admissions, with an important impact in terms of both mortality and morbility. An early diagnosis, together with a correct identification of microbiologic agents in cause, allows a suitable antibiotic therapy with consequent improvement of clinical prognosis and a meaningful reduction of mortality. Main risk factors are: age, hospital and department. An important variable to be considered is the onset of pneumonia. The later is the onset of HAP (5 or more days from the admission to hospital), the more often is associated to multidrug resistant (MRD) microorganisms, poorly responsive to antibiotic.