Abstract

In broad terms patients who have a propensity to thrombosis do so because they have a disorder of the blood (e.g. a coagulation defect or a cellular abnormality such as polycythaemia) or a defect of the vessel wall. Where enhanced coagulation is the primary cause the disorder is referred to as thrombophilia.1 In this article we review the causes, diagnosis and management of thrombophilia.