Risk of major bleeding in unselected patients with venous thromboembolism.

Purpose: To evaluate the risk of major bleeding in unselected patients given anticoagulant treatment (heparin overlapped and followed by oral anticoagulants) because of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE).

Subjects And Methods: We screened the database of 1590 outpatients suspected of DVT and PE in prospective diagnostic studies conducted in Geneva between 1992 and 1998.

Results: Four hundred and eleven of 1590 patients (26%) were anticoagulated for confirmed venous thromboembolism (PE, 300; DVT, 111).