Abdominal venous thrombosis in neonates and infants: role of prothrombotic risk factors – a multicentre case–control study

The factor V (FV) G1691A mutation, the prothrombin (PT) G20210A variant, the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) T677T genotype, together with fasting homocysteine (HCY) concentration, lipoprotein (Lp)(a), anti‐thrombin (AT), protein C (PC), protein S (PS) and anti‐cardiolipin antibodies were investigated in 65 consecutively recruited infants (neonate to < 12 months) with renal venous thrombosis (RVT; n = 31), portal vein thrombosis (PVT; n = 24) or hepatic vein thrombosis (HVT n = 10), and 100 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls. FV G1691A was found in 14 babies (heterozygous: RVT n = 9, PVT n = 4; homozygous HVT n = 1) and five controls, the MTHFR TT677 genotype together with increased HCY in four infants with thrombosis (RVT n = 2; PVT n = 1; HVT n = 1) compared with one control, and the PT G20210A variant was present in one control only. PC type I deficiency was diagnosed in three patients (RVT n = 2; PVT n = 1) and AT deficiency in two patients (RVT n = 1; PVT n = 1). Three neonates with spontaneous thrombosis showed FV G1691A combined with Lp(a) and the FV G1691A was combined with the PT G20210A genotype in two infants. Additional triggering factors were reported in 27 patients (41·5%). The overall odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with respect to the different thrombosis locations were: RVT (OR/CI: 10·9/3·85–31·1; P < 0·0001), PVT (5·47/1·7–17·6; P < 0·0007) and HVT (3·3/0·58–18·7; P = 0·18). The data presented here suggest that genetic prothrombotic risk factors also play an important role in abdominal venous thrombosis during infancy.