The etiology, diagnosis and treatment of thrombotic disorders in newborn infants: a call for international and multi-institutional studies.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the present state of knowledge on the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of neonatal thrombosis.

METHODS

A Medline search (exp infant, newborn, and exp thrombosis, and prospective studies) was performed to identify high-quality articles that have been published during the last 30 years.

RESULTS

The retrieval rate increased from less than one citation per year to an average of three per year in the current Medline file. An intravascular catheter is the most common risk factor for the development of neonatal thrombosis (excluding strokes). Little is known about the precision and accuracy of noninvasive imaging techniques, which are commonly used to make the diagnosis. The efficacy and safety of anticoagulant or thrombolytic therapy remain uncertain.

CONCLUSIONS

The published literature on neonatal thrombotic disorders continues to show a shortage of well-designed international and multi-institutional studies. The latter are urgently needed to rationalize the management of affected infants.