High Urine Albumin Linked to Venous Thromboembolism

Microalbuminuria risk for VTE found comparable to its risk for heart attack and stroke

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06 may 2009 -- Already a recognized risk factor for arterial thromboembolism, microalbuminuria also is a risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE), according to a study published in the May 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Bakhtawar K. Mahmoodi, of the University Medical Center in Groningen, Netherlands, and colleagues extracted data on 8,592 participants with higher levels of urinary albumin concentration from among the 40,856 respondents in the 1997 to 1998 Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-Stage Disease (PREVEND) study. The researchers used data from the regional anticoagulation clinic database to identify PREVEND subjects who developed VTE between 1997 and 2007.

Of the 8,574 participants who could be evaluated, the researchers found that 129 experienced VTE subsequent to PREVEND (mean follow-up period 8.6 years), reflecting an overall annual VTE incidence rate of 0.14 percent. The VTE annual incidence rate increased as urinary albumin excretion (UAE) increased: 0.12 percent (UAE less than 15 mg/24 h), 0.20 percent (UAE equal to 15 to 29 mg/24 h), 0.40 percent (UAE equal to 30 to 300 mg/24 h), and 0.56 percent (UAE greater than 300 mg/24 h).

"In conclusion, microalbuminuria is an independent risk factor for VTE. The relative risk of VTE associated with microalbuminuria is comparable to previously reported risk of myocardial infarction or stroke in individuals with microalbuminuria," the authors write.

Abstract
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