18980              ANTEMORTEM THROMBUS IN THE FEMORAL VEIN

The patient was a woman aged 67 with right heart failure.  The JVP was elevated to the angle of the jaw, there were prominent AV waves and marked pitting ankle oedema.  The liver was enlarged 3 fingers below the costal margin.  She did not respond to diuretics and died after three weeks.  At postmortem the heart weighed 400 gms and there was venous congestion of organs.  Antemortem thrombi were found in both femoral veins and in the right cephalic vein.

The specimen is some 10 cm of a femoral vein with the adjacent artery.  The artery shows some atherosclerosis but is clear.  Antemortem thrombus is present occluding the lumen of the vein.  It has a pointed head directed towards the heart and roughly transverse pale ridges are evident on its surface.  The tail of the thrombus away from the heart is redder than the head.