Relative Risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Very Elderly Patients Compared With Elderly Patients

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism are major causes of morbidity and mortality in patients during hospitalization; previous studies have proposed that an advanced age of more than 60 years is a risk factor for these conditions. This study analyzes the relative risk of DVT in very elderly patients older than 90 years of age compared with elderly patients aged 80 to 89 years. The study was performed at the Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Saarland, Homburg/Saar, Germany, between 2004 and 2012. After completing ultrasound examinations, 20 (64.52%, 12 [60%] female patients, mean age 91.8 ± 1.83 years) of the 31 patients in the study group and 132 (62.26%, 87 [65.91%] female patients, mean age 83.84 ± 2.66 years) of the 212 patients in the control group were diagnosed with DVT. An increased relative risk of DVT was not discovered in the very elderly patients (relative risk, 1.04; P = .80).