REGULAR ARTICLE Venous thromboembolism among United States soldiers deployed to Southwest Asia B Daniel W. Isenbarger a,g, * , J. Edwin Atwood a , Paul T. Scott b , Thomas Bateson b , Louis C. Coyle c , David L. Gillespie d , Lisa A. Pearse e , Todd C. Villines a , Dimitri C. Cassimatis a , Louis N. Finelli e , Allen J. Taylor a , John D. Grabenstein f a Cardiology Service, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States b Army Medical Surveillance Activity, US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Washington, DC, United States c Cardiology Service, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany d Vascular Surgery Service, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, United States e Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rockville, MD, United States f United States Army Office of the Surgeon General, Falls Church, VA, United States g Cardiology Division, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe St, Carnegie 568 Cardiology, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States Received 26 November 2004; received in revised form 28 March 2005; accepted 5 April 2005 Available online 10 May 2005 Abstract Introduction: Military operations may represent a high-risk environment for venous thromboembolism (VTE). We sought to identify and describe cases of venous thromboembolism among US military personnel serving in Southwest Asia, and estimate relative disease rates compared to non-deployed personnel. Materials and methods: Retrospective review of imaging archives, hospital discharge codes, case logs and autopsy records for the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism occurring from 1 March 2003 through 29 February 2004 among 0049-3848/$ - see front matter. Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.thromres.2005.04.002 Abbreviations: DVT, deep vein thrombosis; PE, pulmonary embolism; VTE, venous thromboembolism; ICD-9-CM, International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification. B Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the US Army or Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. * Corresponding author. Cardiology Division, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe St, Carnegie 568 Cardiology, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States. Tel.: +1 410 955 5000, +1 410 283 6293 (page); fax: +1 410 955 3478. E-mail address: isenbargerdw@hotmail.com (D.W. Isenbarger). KEYWORDS Venous; Thromboembolism; Military; Southwest Asia Thrombosis Research (2006) 117, 379 — 383 intl.elsevierhealth.com/journals/thre