Venous thrombosis in diabetes mellitus.

The incidence over 7 days of isotopically-detected calf and popliteal vein thrombosis was determined in a group of 60 diabetic patients admitted to hospital with myocardial infarction, heart failure or stroke, or for abdominal surgery. The result was compared with the incidence in 60 control subjects matched for age, sex and presenting diagnosis. Twenty-one diabetic patients developed positive 125I-fibrinogen scans, compared with 19 control subjects; this difference is not significant. We conclude that diabetes is not associated with an enhanced risk of thrombosis in veins. It is therefore possible that the arterial and capillary abnormalities found in diabetes may arise from mechanisms other than a generalised thrombotic tendency.