Thromb Haemost 1994; 71(04): 416-419
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1642452
Review Article
Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart

High Incidence of Thrombophilia Detected in Chinese Patients with Venous Thrombosis

H W Liu
The Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
Y L Kwong
The Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
C Bourke
The Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
C K Lam
The Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
A K W Lie
The Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
D Wei
The Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
,
L C Chan
The Department of Pathology and Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 29 December 1992

Accepted after resubmission: 13 December 1993

Publication Date:
06 July 2018 (online)

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Summary

Venous thromboembolism is rare in Chinese. To determine the incidence and disease profile of thrombophilia in Chinese patients with thrombosis, 52 unselected Chinese patients with documented venous thrombosis were studied for the presence of thrombophilia. Levels of antithrombin III (AT III), protein C (PC) and protein S (PS) as well as the presence of acquired lupus anticoagulant (LA) and anticardiolipin antibody (ACA) were investigated. Thirty patients were found to be abnormal. These consisted of 5 AT III deficiencies, 9 PC deficiencies, 10 PS deficiencies, 1 combined PC & PS deficiency (all in the heterozygous range), and 5 patients with LA and/or ACA. When the patients with LA and/or ACA are excluded, the incidence of hereditary thrombophilia is 25/47 i.e. 53.2%' which is much higher than those reported in studies of Caucasian patients selected under strict criteria. Family studies performed in 16 cases ot hereditary thrombophilia revealed involvement in 11 cases (68.7%); a total of 36 heterozygous family members were affected, most of which remain asymptomatic. Although 35 events predisposing to thrombosis (27 pregnancies, 1 oral contraceptive consumption and 7 surgical operations) were identified among these index patients, and the heterozygous family members, thrombosis was observed on only 6 occasions (17.1%). The data suggest that pregnancy and surgery do not carry the same degree of thrombotic risk in Chinese as in the Caucasian population with heterozygous AT III, PC and PS deficiency.