The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Protein S deficiency in patients suffering from deep venous thrombosis. As a secondary objective the interference of oral anticoagulation during treatment was studied. Forty-seven female and 40 male patients with ages ranging from 17 to 56 and a mean age of 36.6 years, who presented with deep venous thrombosis of the lower limbs, were studied. Diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis was made using a duplex doppler scan and in cases of doubt the results were confirmed by phlebology. Measurement of the protein S concentrations was performed by the coagulometric method, that is, by evaluating the biological activity. The blood samples were collected one month after the suspension of oral anticoagulation treatment in all patients. In thirty patients blood samples were also taken during anticoagulation treatment. A total of 6.9% of the patients were confirmed, with two consecutive measurements, as having protein S deficiency. The evaluations of the 30 patients during treatment all demonstrated a reduction in the concentrations of this protein. We concluded that the prevalence of protein S deficiency in our study was similar to the prevalence observed in other publications. We also saw that the most reliable time to investigate protein S levels is after the suspension of oral anticoagulant treatment.
Protein S deficiency; Deep venous thrombosis
