Prevalence and Risk Factor of Venous Thromboembolism in Korean Patients with Congestive Heart Failure

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a major health concern and cause of mortality worldwide. Among the well-established risk factors for VTE, congestive heart failure (CHF) is a well-known major risk factor, especially in hospitalized patients. In CHF patients, the risk of VTE is increased because of multi-factorial causes including blood stasis due to decreased ejection fraction (EF), immobilization, endothelial dysfunction, and hemostatic abnormalities. Thus, VTE is approximately three times more likely to develop in CHF patients than in individuals without CHF. Most previous studies regarding VTE in CHF patients were conducted in Caucasian populations. The reported incidence of VTE in CHF patients has widely ranged from 1.63% to 59%. Recently, several epidemiologic studies in the Asian population demonstrated that VTE incidence is rapidly increasing, making VTE an important health concern in Asian countries. In this respect, we hypothesized that CHF is an important risk factor for VTE in Asian populations. To date, however, despite the clinical significance of CHF as a likely VTE risk factor, its contribution to VTE risk has not been established in an Asian population. Therefore, we conducted this nationwide epidemiologic study using the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) database to analyze the VTE prevalence in CHF patients. We also performed a retrospective observation study to investigate potential VTE risks in Korean CHF patients. Methods