Hospital early-warning systemhelps prevent deep-vein thrombosis

An early-warning system can help doctors prevent many cases of deep-vein thrombosis, the so-called ''economy-class syndrome" that causes potentially fatal blood clots, often after long airplane flights or extended hospitalizations, Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers said last week. Up to 2 million Americans develop the clots each year, usually because of inactivity, cancer or dehydration. Doctors frequently do not take essential steps to prevent them. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine last week tested an experimental computer alert system at the Brigham, which identified more than 2,500 patients at risk of developing DVT and who may have benefited from anticoagulant drugs. Doctors for about half the patients were warned of their risk for developing DVT; for the remaining patients, no alert was issued. Study coauthor Samuel Goldhaber and his colleagues found that more than twice as many patients got treatment as a result of the automated alerts, producing a 41 percent decrease in the risk of either a deep-vein thrombosis or a lung embolism, which is caused when a clot lodges in the lung.

REUTERS