Elastic stockings in the prevention of pulmonary embolism; a preliminary report.

IT IS now generally recognized that pulmonary embolism most commonly arises from clinically silent phlebothrombosis in the deep veins of the leg.1 2 3 4 In their classic paper on this subject, Hunter and his co-workers4 state: "We are of the opinion that the greatest single factor favoring thrombus formation in the lower extremity is sudden confinement to bed of a previously ambulatory older person without the benefit of active exercise or the aid of gravity in the maintenance of an efficient venous circulation." Recently radiologic and anatomic studies in this laboratory have demonstrated that aneurysmal enlargements and saccular dilatations often occur in . . .