One weapon, two blows in the war against the thrombus

摘要

Old habits die hard, as do old clinical precepts. The war against the thrombus in clinical practice has long been based on the twin paradigms of white versus red thrombi and Virchow's triad. Platelet-predominant white thrombi form in high-flow arterial streams. Red thrombi, rich in fibrin and trapped erythrocytes, form in low-pressure environments in the venous circulation and atria (1). Virchow's triad offers a 3-way breakdown of the predisposition to thrombosis into abnormalities affecting the vessel wall, blood flow, and/or blood constituents (2).