Arterial thrombosis in neonate

In the last decade, an increase has been recorded in the prevalence of thromboembolism in pediatric population. The reasons are probably in better diagnostic performance and a higher proportion of life-threatened infant survival because of better treatments, particularly invasive methods of treatments. Thrombosis is a multifactorial disorder caused by hereditary and acquired risk factors. In children, the same genetic predispositions, underlying medical conditions in the development of thromboembolism and risk factors are present as in adults. However, pediatric population has a healthy circulatory system and spontaneous thrombosis is rare. Besides congenital tendency, more than 90% of children also have some of the acquired risk factors such as malignancy, infection or intravascular catheters. Identifying the patients prone to thrombosis is the fi rst step towards prevention of this disease in pediatric population. Due to insuffi cient evidence-based recommendations for pediatric population, the predicted benefi ts of therapies must be carefully weighed against the possible risks of these therapies in each individual case. To facilitate comparisons among numerous studies, the American College of Chest Physicians has published recommendations for the treatment of thromboembolism, which are summarized in the 9th edition of evidence-based guidelines on antithrombotic therapy and prevention of thrombosis.

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