DVT after Heart transplant

Posted by andyp @andyp, Jun 23, 2021

I'm 4 1/2 years post heart trx and was recently diagnosed with a rather large dvt. I'm quite active and my doctor was as surprised as I was to discover this. Anyone else have any experience with dvt's? I was put on Eliquis for 3 months with a reassessment to follow. Still haven't seen a reduction in the swelling/edema although the pain that initially brought me into the hospital has subsided.

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Jun 23, 2021

Hi @andyp, welcome to the Transplants group. I’m tagging fellow heart transplant recipients @danab @estrada53 @scottj @glinda @bellini to see if anyone else experienced a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after transplant.

Andy, I’m glad that you got medical attention. Did your team tell you how long it may take for the edema to reduce?

andyp | @andyp | Jun 23, 2021

In reply to @colleenyoung "Hi @andyp, welcome to the Transplants group. I’m tagging fellow heart transplant recipients @danab @estrada53 @scottj..." + (show)

No, which is why I was reaching out. It was actually caught by a nurse at an appointment with my PCP for an unrelated issue. Cardiology is having my PCP handle this and she was vague about how long - or if - it would go away. Assumption seems to be wait 3 months and then determine if additional steps are needed. I have a follow-up with hematology but not for another 6 weeks., hoping for possible answers as to why this occurred since I'm not in a risk group (other than transplant), physically active and have not engaged in any of the usual activities linked to this - long travel/flights for instance.

Dana, Volunteer Mentor | @danab | Jun 24, 2021

@andyp Hi Andy Im a Heart Transplant Patient also and would add my experience. Im not sure what I had was considered DVT since it was in my upper Chest area and it was during the time I was in the hospital just prior and after transplant but I'll share my experience. Due to issues with my old heart spent a few months in the Hospital with about 2 months prior to receiving my heart. I developed blood clots in various places in my neck, upper shoulder and arms. The one in my neck area cause an issue with biopsies during the first few months after transplant where they had to go thru my groin instead of the neck. Now for treatment they felt none was necessary since it was not causing a blood flow problem and waited to see if it be solved on it's own, which it did over about a 2 month period. They did keep an eye on it each time I went in for a biopsy but mainly to see if it was gone so they could do the biopsy via the neck. The others I had resolved on their own and no blood thinners except aspirin were used. So I hope that helps and I know they were concerned about clots in other parts of my body and did various ultrasounds of all areas including legs to make sure there were not any more.
Have a Great Day
Dana