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Global Risk Profile Verification in Patients with Venous Thromboembolism (GRIP VTE) in 5 Gulf Countries

Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait, hem_63{at}yahoo.com

Wael Almahmeed, MD

Department of Cardiology, Al Jazeira Hospital, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Salah Al Humood, MD

Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait

Mahmoud Marashi, MD

Department of Medicine, Rashid Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Ahmed Bahr, MD

4 Department of Vascular Surgery, Al Jazeira Hospital, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Hasan Al Mahdi, MD

Al Qassimi Hospital, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Sherif Bakir, MD

Middle East CRO, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Maha Al Farhan, BSc, MPA

Middle East CRO, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Background: The Global Risk Profile Verification in Patients with Venous Thromboembolism was the first prospective multicenter registry conducted in Arabian Gulf countries to explore the epidemiology of venous thromboembolic (VTE) disorders and to provide data on diagnosis and disease management. Methods: Data on 242 patients with confirmed VTE were submitted between September 2003 and November 2003 from 28 contributing hospitals in the Arabian Gulf region. Differences between groups were assessed by the ² test or Fisher exact test for categorical variables. The Student's t test was used for testing proportions. Results: The frequency of VTE cases is deep vein thrombosis (DVT), 187 (77.27%); pulmonary embolism (PE), 35 (14.46%); and DVT with PE, 20 (8.26%). The most common symptoms of DVT and DVT/PE patients were calf pain (72%), calf swelling (63.8%), and localized tenderness (52.2%). The most common symptoms in patients with PE alone and DVT/PE were dyspnea (83.6%), thoracic pain (69.1%), and cough (40%). Risk factors for VTE were immobilization (41.3%), age >65 years (28.9%), a history of VTE (20.7%), and trauma (19%). Among surgical interventions, orthopedic procedures induced the greatest number of VTE cases, followed by general surgery and gynecological procedures. Low-molecular-weight heparins were chosen to treat 33.7% of DVT cases, whereas unfractionated heparin was used in 21.9% of cases. Conclusion: VTE remains a common problem in medical and surgical patients in the Arabian Gulf states. Recognition of the common risk factors is of extreme importance to implement the appropriate prophylactic strategy according to the published guidelines.

Key Words: deep vein thrombosis (DVT) • pulmonary embolism (PE) • venous thromboembolism (VTE) • Gulf states

This version was published on June 1, 2009

Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis, Vol. 15, No. 3, 289-296 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1076029608315168


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