Methods of thrombus age determination

Abstract

Relevance: Venous thromboembolic complications are a formidable condition with a high mortality risk, that is rather common in the practice of a physician of any specialty. Therefore, timely diagnosis and correct management of patients with thromboembolic complications are key to a favorable outcome of the disease. An urgent problem for science nowadays is the search and development of diagnostic approaches that give a complete description of a thrombotic event. One of these characteristics is the determination of the age of thrombosis; it is a clear understanding of this criterion that makes it possible to choose a successful treatment strategy for patients with similar complications.Aim of study: To date, the assessment of the age of a thrombus is based mainly on the patient’s anamnestic data, which do not always correspond to the real situation, and imaging techniques based on indirect signs. Therefore, the ineffectiveness of therapy for the described conditions in some cases can be explained by an underestimation of the age of the thrombus. The development of scientific research in this direction seems promising and can lead to an improvement in the results of treatment of patients suffering from venous thromboembolic complications. This article is a review of the methods for thrombus age determination presented in the literature.

Keywords

• age of thrombus
• venous thromboembolism
• ultrasound elastography
• thrombolysis
• thrombus histostructure