A DVT Treatment Center in Dallas: What You Should Know About DVT

Posted by jamessm2799 on October 12th, 2016

Ask most people what the term "vein disease" means to them, and most – if they have any answer at all – will reply "varicose veins." And while varicose veins are the most widespread form of vein disease, they are not the most dangerous. That "honor" would fall to deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, a condition in which blood clots (thrombi) begin to form in the deep veins of the legs. These blood clots are dangerous in themselves, because they block the proper flow of blood and thus cause circulatory problems that can affect your overall health. But if the clots break loose from where they formed and travel through the veins to the lungs or brain, they can cause a pulmonary embolism or stroke.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 2 people in every thousand (300,000 to 600,000) have DVT and don't know it because they've never gotten a proper venous health screening. Even more troubling, the CDC reports that 60,000-100,000 people with DVT die of pulmonary embolisms each year, 10-30% of them within a month of being diagnosed with DVT, because they ignored their vein health and failed to get a screening until it was too late to do something about it. So there is little question that DVT presents a major public health problem.

What causes DVT?

People are at increased risk of developing DVT if they have a family history of blood clots or other vein diseases (including varicose veins), if they are obese and/or don't get enough regular exercise, if they sit (or have been bedridden) for long periods of time, if they have given birth within the last six months, if they have had recent surgery, if they smoke cigarettes, or if they are female and take birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy.

How is DVT treated?

Most cases of DVT are treated with medical-grade compression stockings to improve circulation, plus the use of "blood thinner" (really anticoagulant) medications such as heparin or warfarin.

More serious cases may require the assistance of some of the best interventional radiology doctors in Dallas to perform specialized procedures such as the placement of filters in the Inferior Vena Cava (the body's largest vein) to prevent blood clots from reaching the lungs and thus triggering a pulmonary embolism.

Other advanced procedures that we use at MTV IR to treat DVT include IV clot busters (removing blood clots by injecting thrombolytic drugs directly into the clots through an intravenous catheter), mechanical thrombectomy (inserting a device designed to dissolve or remove the blood clots via a catheter), angioplasty, or inserting stents in affected arteries.

So if you have been diagnosed with DVT, have your primary physician contact our DVT treatment center in Dallas, or give us a call directly at 469-447-4008. We'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

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