[Subclavian vein thrombosis: epidemiologic data of the PHLEKO (phlebothrombosis conservative treatment) Study].

This is a report of 91 cases of subclavian vein thrombosis. The data are derived from the PHLECO-study (Phlebothrombosis-Conservative treatment) which is a multicenter investigation on the fate of 2088 deep vein thromboses as diagnosed by phlebography. In this cohort the subclavian vein thrombosis incidence was recorded at 4.36%. The interval between first symptoms and hospital admission lasted 3.90 days. The average patient's age was 46.3 years. The genders were evenly distributed. The causes of subclavian vein thromboses were in 29.7% traumatic (effort thrombosis, catheter manipulation), in 31.9% symptomatic (accompanying other diseases), and in 38.4% idiopathic (cause unknown). Fibrinolytic therapy was carried out in 49.4% of the cases, the remainder received anticoagulants. Patients with acute subclavian vein thrombosis and conservative treatment (no fibrinolytic therapy) stayed for 18.8 days in the hospital. No instances of pulmonary embolism, either fatal or non-fatal, were recorded.