Frequency of venous thrombosis in patients with an exacerbation of chronic obstructive lung disease.

The presence or absence of venous thrombosis was determined in 29 patients with an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive lung disease by the technique of autologous platelet labelling with indium-111. Deep venous thrombosis was diagnosed in 13 patients and in nine of these patients thrombosis was located proximal to the knee--that is, in areas associated with an appreciable risk of pulmonary embolism. One patient died; pulmonary emboli were found at postmortem examination. The incidence of venous thrombosis seen in this study is high enough to suggest that these patients may benefit from prophylactic antithrombotic treatment.