close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffThe abnormal blood clotting of factor V Leiden can be associated with a variety of serious and potentially serious complications, including:
- Pregnancy complications. Although most women with factor V Leiden have normal pregnancies, the mutation has been linked with an increased risk of miscarriage and possibly other complications during pregnancy, including pregnancy-induced high blood pressure (preeclampsia), slow fetal growth and early separation of the placenta from the uterine wall (placental abruption). If you're a woman with factor V Leiden and you get pregnant, be sure your doctor monitors you carefully throughout your pregnancy.
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT). People with factor V Leiden have an increased risk of developing DVT compared with someone without the mutation, though the overall risk of developing DVT is still low.
- Pulmonary embolism. DVT puts you at risk of a clot breaking off and traveling to your lungs or, rarely, your brain. A pulmonary embolism can be fatal, so it's important to watch for signs and symptoms of a pulmonary embolism, such as shortness of breath or chest pain, and to seek prompt medical attention.
References
- Learning about factor v Leiden thrombophilia. National Human Genome Research Institute. http://www.genome.gov/pfv.cfm?pageID=15015167. Accessed May 21, 2010.
- Ornstein DL, et al. Factor V Leiden. Circulation. 2003;107:e94.
- Deep vein thrombosis. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec07/ch081/ch081b.html. Accessed May 21, 2010.
- Pulmonary embolism. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec05/ch050/ch050a.html. Accessed May 21, 2010.
- Laubach J, et al. Hematological changes of pregnancy. In: Hoffman R, et al. Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06715-0..X5001-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-443-06715-0&uniq=203749156. Accessed May 21, 2010.
- Konkle BA, et al. Hemostasis, thrombosis, fibrinolysis, and cardiovascular disease. In: Libby P, et al. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..X5001-8--TOP&isbn=978-1-4160-4106-1&uniq=203749156. Accessed May 21, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on