Deep Vein Thrombosis Essay

Select one of the case studies below for your assignment. In your discussion, be sure to apply knowledge of the physiologic alterations in bodily systems in response to disease processes Case Study Assignment Requirements Make sure all of the topics in the case study have been addressed. Cite at least three references in your case study paper; this may include peer-reviewed journal articles, textbooks, or evidence-based practice websites to support the content. All reference sources must be within 5 years. Do not use sources such as Wikipedia or UpToDate as a reference. Assignments must have at least four full pages of analytic content, double-spaced (the cover and reference pages do not count in the page count, but must be included with the assignment), and follow APA 7th edition format. Case Study 1: Disorders of Hemostasis Leona is 52 years old and smokes. She is also overweight and has atherosclerosis. When she was given a 2-week vacation from work, she packed up her bags and flew from Minnesota to Sydney, Australia, for the trip she always wanted to take. Unfortunately, just 3 days after she arrived, she was hospitalized when her left calf became inflamed, causing her considerable pain. The physician attending to her told her she developed a deep vein thrombosis.  Explain, using your knowledge of hypercoagulability, why the trip to Australia contributed to Leona’s DVT? Why was Leona already at risk for thrombus development? How does Leona’s atherosclerosis affect platelet function? Conversely, what is the effect of increased platelet activity on the development of atherosclerosis? How do atherosclerosis and immobility promote changes in blood coagulation? When Leona was in hospital, she received heparin therapy. Explain why this course of action was taken to treat her DVT. Why was she not given heparin tablets to take back to the hotel with her? Deep Vein Thrombosis Essay.

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According to Katakami (2017), Atherosclerosis is a condition resulting from an accumulation of cholesterol, fats, and other substances on or in the walls of the arteries. This accumulation is referred to as plaque, and it has been found to restrict the flow of blood. Sometimes the plaque can burst, thereby triggering a blood clot. While Atherosclerosis is mostly considered a heart problem, it affects arteries in all parts of the body.

The patient’s hypercoagulability can be described as an increase in the tendency of blood to undergo thrombosis. Coagulation is a healthy and normal response to bleeding to maintain homeostasis. The process involves the formation of stable clots. However, Leona’s condition is a pathologic state involving excessive coagulation or coagulation triggered by other factors apart from bleeding. Different components of blood interact in this condition to form a thrombus. Several acquired and genetic risk factors for deep vein thromboembolism have been understood. In Leona’s case, exposure to high altitude during her flight to Australia resulted in her a hypercoagulable state, thereby exposing her to the thromboembolic event.

While, in some cases, atherosclerotic plaques remain clinically silent, they are prone to disruption resulting in activation of platelets, aggregation followed by an atherothrombotic episode. Furthermore, platelet activation has been seen to play a role in the progression of Atherosclerosis. This occurs when blood vessels that have been injured by cholesterol, smoking, and hypertension develop plagues rich in cholesterol, which rapture causing platelets to form clots (Nording et al., 2020).

The treatment of Leona’s deep venous thrombosis would involve taking anticoagulant medicines. The anticoagulant reduces the blood’s ability to clot, thereby stopping coagulation and the growth of clots. Infusion of unfractionated heparin preceding the oral administration of warfarin is the most dependable treatment for DVT. The oral form of the drug was not administered as it is mostly used to free the need for frequent coagulation monitoring in a patient instead of treating atherothrombotic episodes due to its low molecular weight (Othieno et al., 2018).

References

Katakami, N. (2017). Mechanism of development of Atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease in diabetes mellitus. Journal of Atherosclerosis and thrombosis, RV17014.

Nording, H., Baron, L., & Langer, H. F. (2020). Platelets as therapeutic Targets to prevent Atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis.

Othieno, R., Okpo, E., & Forster, R. (2018). Home versus in‐patient treatment for deep vein thrombosis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (1). Deep Vein Thrombosis Essay.