Blood clot. H. Stanbro
The Doctors
On August 10, i had a dvt blood clot below the left knee spent
a week in
hospital, i am on comandin a very simple question, oh they found
it with
a veinsdoppler
how long will this blood clot stay in my leg? when can i go off comandin
in general most cases, should i have another vein doppler to see
it i think
a small part
passed through my lung and heart according to my lung doctor !! ps
sorry about the spelling please advise is this clot gone??
Answer
It depends on how big the clot is, what caused it, and
whether you
have some kind of problem with dissolving clots (poor
fibrinolysis). The
coumadin will just help prevent forming any more. If they think
you had
a pulmonary embolism from this clot, I am sure they will want to
be sure
it is gone. A special radionuclide scan is the best way to tell
this. Another
doppler ultrasound of the leg should show whether that clot has
gone.
The question in my mind is why did you get the clot in the first place.
Did you have surgery? Is there any chance that you are one of
the many,
many people who have a tendency to form clots due to small
mutations in
some of the proteins of the clotting system (factor V Leiden? prothrombin
promoter mutations? protein C or protein S mutations), or
because of
antiphospholipid antibodies, or because of too much fibrinogen?
If so,
you may need to permanently remain on coumadin. You should try to
find out what the problem is, because if you are susceptible to
clots, you
could have a stroke or a fatal pulmonary embolism eventually. If
on the
other hand, you are not susceptible and this was just a weird episode
perhaps due to immobilization after an injury or surgery, then perhaps
you can go off the coumadin eventually.
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