A systematic review on internal jugular vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Objective: Whereas the internal jugular vein is the most common site of thrombosis in patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of the upper extremity, the association between internal jugular vein thrombus and pulmonary embolism (PE) has not been clearly characterized. The objective of this paper was to determine the risk of embolization of an isolated internal jugular vein thrombus causing a clinically overt PE, with the secondary objective of assessing the value of therapeutic anticoagulation in patients with isolated internal jugular vein thrombosis (IJVT) in improving clinical outcomes.

Methods: The National Center for Biotechnology Information, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature were searched for articles.