VENOUS THROMBOSIS AND PULMONARY EMBOLISM

Abstract

This communication will present the experience at the Massachusetts General Hospital with thrombosis and embolism up to June 1946. Previous reports have stressed the importance of this syndrome and have called attention to the diagnostic criteria.¹ The safety of interruption of the femoral veins in the treatment of this disorder has been demonstrated. We wish now to record our present views on the subject including a controlled study on the use of Dicumarol. PROPHYLAXIS Prevention of thrombus formation in the deep veins of the legs is, in fact, the basic principle on which investigators in this field have been working for many decades. Progress has been slow, yet through a coordination of ideas much has been accomplished along these lines. Inasmuch as thrombosis within the veins is most apt to occur as a complication of illness or operative intervention, the opportunity for prophylaxis against this additional hazard to the