Objectives: To investigate the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of thromboembolism in Japanese children.
Methods: Clinical data of 77 patients with thromboembolism from a national tertiary pediatric care center were reviewed.
Results: Incidence of thromboembolism was calculated to be 15 per 10,000 hospital admissions. Infants younger than one year of age made up the largest age group (25 patients, including nine neonates younger than 30 d). The occurrence of thromboembolism increased over the years in the index population. Thromboembolism was diagnosed as follows: portal vein thrombosis (n = 15), obstruction of central venous catheter (n = 13) and cerebral infarction (n = 9). Among the 77 patients, there were eight mortalities and six significant sequelae.
Conclusions: In pediatric care, especially in intensive care, we should pay more attention to thromboembolism in order to detect it promptly.
Keywords: Children; Epidemiology; Thromboembolism; Thrombophilia.