Because of the dangers associated with a DVT, it is important to have the condition diagnosed as early as possible. The challenge is that the testing process is less than straightforward. Multiple diagnostic tests are usually necessary.

D-Dimer Testing For The Presence Of Fibrin Fragments

When a vein is injured, your body’s natural clotting system manufactures thrombin. This material then activates a compound called fibrinogen, and converts it into a substance called fibrin. Fibrin strands form a net over the injury, which becomes the foundation of a blood clot.

Thrombin also triggers your body’s clot-dissolving mechanism. As clots dissolve, fibrin strands deteriorate into fragments called D-dimers. A D-dimer test identifies the level of these particles in your blood. If test results note a marked rise in D-dimers, it implies the presence of clots. If the level is normal, deep vein thrombosis can usually be ruled out.

As a side note, this test can produce false positives since an elevated level of D-dimers can be caused by infection, liver disease, and other conditions. For this reason, results are inconclusive.

MRI and CT Scanning For Blood Clots

Your doctor may also choose to order magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and helical computed tomography (CT) scans. MRIs use radio waves and magnets, and are typically ordered to study heart disorders. However, a form of MRI, called magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), can be used to study the venous network in your legs (the most common site of DVT).

Helical CT scans use x-rays to generate images. These scans, too, are typically ordered to examine structures in the chest, including the heart, pericardium, and lungs. As with an MRA, however, a form of CT scan called computed tomography angiography (CTA) can generate 3-dimensional images of the deep veins in your legs.

Results from both tests can help your doctor identify clots that have formed in your legs. These tests are rarely sufficient for producing a firm diagnosis of DVT, but they can be helpful for building the case.

Doppler Ultrasound For Identifying Deep Venous Obstructions

Ultrasound has traditionally been the most common diagnostic test used for identifying Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella blood clots in the legs. With a conventional approach, the doctor uses a transducer to emit sound waves that penetrate the tissues and bounce off the veins’ walls. The sound waves then return to the transducer, which forwards them to a computer. The computer uses the data to produce two-dimensional “B-mode” images.

Doppler ultrasound follows the same process. However, rather than bouncing off the walls of the blood vessels, the sound waves are reflected from red blood cells. The resulting data is sent to a computer, which generates images of your blood flow. These images help your doctor identify obstructions within your deep veins that are restricting the passage of blood.

Contrast Venography For Venous Imaging

Similar to helical CT scans, contrast venography uses x-rays to image the blood vessels in your legs. A contrast dye is introduced into your bloodstream near your ankle. X-rays are taken to display the deep veins and show areas in which the flow of the contrast is slowed.

While side effects of venography are rare, patients occasionally experience headaches, nausea, and vomiting. For this reason, despite its high degree of accuracy, it is only used when Doppler ultrasonography fails to produce a conclusive diagnosis.

Yaz deep vein thrombosis poses dangerous risks since clots can break away and travel to your heart and lungs. Unfortunately, symptoms may be absent, and thus women are often unaware the condition exists. If you have suffered blood clots, DVT, or other Yaz side effects, you may have the right to file a claim for compensation against the manufacturer. Contact an experienced Ocella lawsuit lawyer to discuss your case.

Below, we’ll explore how Yaz and blood clots contribute to this problem, some of the side effects it produces, and how the condition is treated.

The Problem With Yaz Blood Clots

Ocella, Yasmin and Yaz birth control are known as a fourth-generation oral contraceptive. In addition to the hormone estrogen, it contains drospirenone, a relatively new synthetic progestin. Studies have shown the estrogen-drospirenone combination leads to a 6.3-fold increase in the risk of abnormal blood clots (over non-usage).

The term “abnormal” is used in the context of clots that form outside your body’s natural clotting mechanism. This is an important distinction. When clots form naturally as the result of a venous injury, your body dissolves them once the injury has been repaired. This occurs due to the release of tissue plasminogen activator, which adheres to fibrin, one of the main building blocks of blood clots. The union produces plasmin, which digests the fibrin, and thus dissolves the clot.

Blood clots escape dissolution. Because they form in the absence of a venous injury, nearby cells fail to release enough tissue plasminogen activator to dissolve them. The clots remain at the site. When this happens within the deep veins (i.e. DVT), it can lead to post-phlebitic syndrome.

How DVT Causes Post-Phlebitic Syndrome

Blood in the deep veins of your legs is oxygen-poor. It must return to your heart and lungs to pick up more oxygen before being recirculated throughout your body. This is made possible by the muscles that surround these blood vessels. The muscles contract whenever you move, squeezing the veins and propelling blood upward.

On their own, the muscles surrounding your leg veins would be incapable of maintaining blood flow back to your heart. Once they relax, blood would flow backward into your legs. One-way valves within the veins prevent this from happening. Once blood passes through a valve, it cannot flow in the opposite direction.

With DVT, clots form within the deep venous system and cause inflammation in the valves. This damages them and impairs their ability to regulate the flow of blood. It flows backward through the valves and pools in the legs, causing swelling, pain, and in severe cases, skin ulcers. This is known as post-phlebitic syndrome. Unless it is treated, the condition will eventually lead to further clotting problems.

Treatment For Post-Phlebitic Syndrome

The most common form of treatment is to wear compression stockings around your calves. These stockings are tight and apply pressure to encourage upward blood flow. If a DVT has caused swelling in your legs, putting the stocking on may be difficult or uncomfortable. In fact, many patients who suffer post-phlebitic syndrome find wearing them intolerable.

Occasionally, doctors will recommend vein stripping or valve repair to relieve symptoms associated with PPS. Vein stripping is a procedure during which your doctor removes the affected blood vessel. However, it is usually done to remove a large superficial vein called the saphenous vein. Because valve damage from Yaz DVT typically happens in the deep veins, this approach is rarely effective.

Valve repair is done to reconstruct the damaged flaps. Your doctor can shorten the flaps by tucking them, and will sometimes install a fabric sleeve to narrow the blood vessel. The purpose of the sleeve is to bring the flaps closer to each other in order to prevent backflow. As with vein stripping, this approach is generally ineffective over the long run.

If you have suffered blood clots, DVT, post-phlebitic syndrome, or other Yaz side effects, you may have the right to file a claim for compensation. Contact a Yaz birth control lawsuit lawyer to discuss your options.

Treatment for Yaz, Ocella and Yasmin side effects involving blood clots can take several forms to accomplish different goals. For example, your doctor will want to prevent existing clots from becoming larger and new clots from forming. Another priority is to prevent blood clots from traveling to your lungs and triggering a pulmonary embolism. These goals are accomplished by using anticoagulant therapy, filters, compression stockings, and in rare cases, surgery.

Preventing Further Yaz Blood Clot Problems

Anticoagulant drugs, such as warfarin and low-molecular-weight heparin, are used to minimize clotting problems. Warfarin comes in pill form and requires a few days before it takes effect. Heparin is introduced through injection and begins working immediately. Doctors often prescribe both at the same time, but stop heparin after warfarin starts working.

These two anticoagulants work a little differently to achieve similar results. Heparin binds to antithrombin III, a small protein molecule in your blood that incapacitates enzymes needed for clotting. By binding with this molecule, heparin activates it, thus preventing your blood from coagulating.

Warfarin helps to control Yaz problems caused by a DVT by neutralizing vitamin K. It accomplishes this by preventing your liver from using vitamin K to produce proteins required for clotting.

Note that anticoagulants do not dissolve blood clots. Instead, they reduce your blood’s ability to coagulate, either by inactivating clotting enzymes (as with heparin) or preventing their production (as with warfarin). Thrombolytic medications are needed in order to dissolve clots. However, due to the risk of bleeding, they’re seldom used for DVT unless the condition poses an immediate danger.

Avoiding Pulmonary Embolism

The primary goal of treating deep vein thrombosis is to prevent pulmonary embolism. This occurs when clots create an obstruction in your lung arteries, thereby preventing blood from reaching your lung tissue. Most cases of pulmonary embolism are caused by blood clots that travel to the lungs from the leg veins.

Clots can break away from the venous wall and travel with your blood to your vena cava. This is a large vein through which blood flows directly to your heart. Clots that are carried into your heart can migrate further into your pulmonary arteries. If they form a blockage, you will experience a pulmonary embolism.

Your doctor can install a metal filter in your vena cava to prevent migrating blood clots (called emboli) from reaching your heart and lungs. This is often done when anticoagulants and thrombolytics have proven ineffective.

A catheter is inserted in your arm or neck and guided to the vena cava. The filter is delivered through the catheter in a collapsed form. Once it is positioned at the intended site, the filter is opened like an umbrella.

Surgically Removing Deep Venous Clots

In rare instances, a DVT may be so severe that tissue death (i.e. gangrene) becomes a risk. This is a form of deep vein thrombosis known as phlegmasia cerulea dolens. Symptoms include severe pain and swelling, and a bluish color to the skin. The condition is usually characterized by large blood clots that pose an imminent danger of causing a pulmonary embolism.

In these cases, your doctor may recommend a surgical procedure called venous thrombectomy. A vascular specialist will insert a catheter in your groin or near your knee. The catheter is guided to the DVT site and shatters the clot before extracting it.

Yaz and deep vein thrombosis is a dangerous condition that can lead to life-threatening circumstances. If you or someone you know has suffered blood clots, DVT, or pulmonary embolism after using this birth control, Yasmin or Ocella, explore your legal rights. Contact one of our Yaz lawsuit compensation attorneys to discuss your options. There is never any charge to speak to an attorney.

The initial test is usually an ultrasound. An ultrasound test measures the blood flow through your veins and helps find any clots that might be preventing the flow. Sometimes a several ultrasounds are done over a number of days to determine whether a blood clot is growing or to rule out that a new one has not developed.

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Additional tests may be used when ultrasound results are unclear. These tests may help diagnose or exclude a blood clot but are not frequently needed:

1. CT or MRI scans. Both computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide visual images of your veins and may show if a clot is present. Sometimes a venous thrombosis is found when these scans are performed for other reasons.

2. Blood test. Almost all people who develop severe deep vein thrombosis while on Yaz or Yasmin birth control have an elevated blood level of a clot-dissolving substance called D-dimer. However, D-dimer is elevated in other conditions, too. Thus, a test for D-dimer is not very conclusive. It is most useful for ruling out DVT or identifying people at risk of recurrence.

3. Venography. A dye is injected into a large vein in your foot or ankle. An X-ray procedure creates an image of the veins in your legs and feet to look for clots. This test is used less frequently today because less invasive studies can usually confirm the diagnosis.

If you are treated with anticoagulant medicines, you may need periodic blood tests to monitor the effects of the anticoagulant on the blood. Blood tests include activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) to monitor treatment with standard or unfractionated heparin, and prothrombin time (PT) or INR, to monitor treatment with warfarin (Coumadin).

Yaz side effect treatment options include:

1. Blood Thinners. Medicines used to treat DVT include the use of anticoagulants. These are drugs that help decrease your blood’s ability to clot. While they do not break up existing blood clots, they can prevent clots from getting bigger or reduce your risk of developing additional clots. Common anticoagulants include heparin and warfarin. Heparin is given through a vein (intravenously, or IV) or as an injection. Warfarin is given as a pill. Treatment usually involves taking blood thinners for at least 3 months to prevent existing clots from growing.

The use of heparin and warfarin must be closely monitored because both can have side effects, such as an increased risk of bleeding. On the other hand, if your dose is too low, you are at increased risk of additional blood clots. To monitor the effects of blood thinners, you will need periodic blood tests to check how long it takes your blood to clot.

2. Filters. If you are at a high risk for PE and you cannot take medicines to thin your blood, a vena cava filter may be used. The filter is inserted into the vena cava, the large vein that returns blood to the heart from the abdomen and legs. This filter stops blood clots from breaking loose and traveling to your lungs.

3. Compression Stockings. These tight-fitting, elastic stockings are worn on the leg from your foot to about the level of your knee. This pressure helps reduce the chances that your blood will pool and clot. They should be worn for at least a year if possible. Sometimes patients who have developed significant blood clots are recommended to use compression stocking on a long-term basis.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding side effects or if you want to discuss your legal options including filing a Yaz lawsuit. We are currently representing women who have suffered from Yaz side effects throughout the United States.

This is called a pulmonary (lung) embolism. In severe cases, a pulmonary embolism can cause life-threatening complications. DVT may damage the vein and cause the leg to ache, swell and change color. However, many instances of deep vein thrombosis disappear on its own or after treatment with blood thinners. Although blood clots most often develop in the calf and thigh veins, they do develop less often in the arm veins or pelvic veins.

DVT Symptoms

Deep vein thrombosis often develops with no obvious symptoms. In fact, in about half of all cases, there are no noticeable symptoms. In some cases, a pulmonary embolism is the first sign that you have DVT. When symptoms do occur, they may include pain and swelling of the affected areas, including legs, arms and neck. If the clot is in the leg, you may experience swelling in the ankles and feet as well as the feeling of having a “charlie horse”. You may also experience redness and warmth in the area affected by the blood clot.

Ocella Side Effects Causes/Risk Factors

Inactivity. Blood clots can form in veins when you are inactive, such as if you are paralyzed or bedridden, or must sit for extended periods of time while on a long flight or car trip. Although sitting for long periods of time is a risk factor, your chance of developing DVT while flying or driving is relatively low.

Surgery. Injury to your veins or surgery can slow blood flow, increasing the risk of blood clots. General anesthetics used during surgery can dilate your veins, which can increase the risk of blood pooling and then clotting.

Cancer. Some types of cancer increase the amount of substances in your blood that promote clotting. In addition, some forms of cancer treatment can increase the risk level of developing blood clots.

Family History. Some people may inherit a blood-clotting disorder that runs in families. Women with a genetic clotting disorder such as Factor 5 are at a higher risk.

Pregnancy. Pregnancy increases the pressure in the veins in your pelvis and legs. The risk of blood clots from pregnancy can continue for up to six weeks after you give birth.

Heart Failure. Women with heart failure are at risk of DVT because a damaged heart does not pump blood as effectively as a normal heart, thus increasing the chance that blood will pool and then clot.

Birth Control/Hormone Replacement Therapy. Oral contraceptives (birth control pills), including third generation contraceptives and fourth generation pills like Generic Yaz Ocella birth control and hormone replacement therapy both can increase your blood’s ability to clot.

Overweight/obese. Being overweight increases the pressure in the veins in your pelvis and legs.

Smoking. Smoking affects blood clotting and circulation and especially increases the risk of developing a clot for women who are over age 35 and daily smokers.

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