Health Group Calls Attention to Venous Thromboembolism

The Venous Disease Coalition (VDC) has been created in order to make venous thromboembolism (VTE) a major U.S. health issue. Members of the VDC are key non-profit organizations and leading healthcare professionals whose mission is to increase health professional and public awareness of VTE.

VTE is a treatable and preventable disorder and is the 3rd most common vascular disease, the first two being stroke and heart disease.

There are two conditions that are related to VTE:

1. DVT (deep vein thrombosis) - when blood clots form in one or more veins; usually in the veins of the leg.

2. PE (pulmonary embolism) - a disease that occurs when deep vein thrombosis loosens from its vein site and moves through the heart and then enters into the lungs.

According to the Chairman of the VDC, Dr. Samuel Z. Goldhaber, the number of deaths per year that are associated with PE are five times more common than deaths from motor vehicle accidents, AIDS and breast cancer combined.

On September 18, 2007, beginning at 12:00 p.m., the VDC will hold a meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. in an effort to raise awareness with regards to VTE. A number of the nation's top venous medical professional organizations and physicians will be in attendance such as Dr. Susan Shurin, Deputy Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Michael F. Rush, Republican Massachusetts Representative and Colorado's 7th Congressional District Democratic Congressman, Ed Perlumutter.

Michael Hefron, a patient spokesperson, will be in attendance to share his own personal experience as a survivor of PE. He had a broken foot as well as a hereditary blood disorder which lead to his development of a DVT which caused him to have a pulmonary embolism.

Nineteen major national public health professional vascular societies and health organizations have joined forces with the Vascular Disease Foundation (VDF) to create the VDC.

Participating organizations in the fight against VTE include:

- Hemophilia & Thrombosis Research Society

- American Academy of Physician Assistants

- American College of Chest Physicians