Review article: Inherited thrombophilia in inflammatory bowel disease

individuals with inflammatory bowel disease frequently experience increased systemic thromboembolic complications, which represent an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Risk factors for thrombosis can be inherited or acquired. The most common inherited risk factors for thromboembolism are factor V Leiden mutation, G20210A mutation in the prothrombin gene, and homozygous C677T mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene. In the last few years, a great amount of literature has focused on the prevalence of such genetic mutations and their role in determining thrombosis in IBD patients. In this review, we summarize the results of these studies. (C) 2003 by Am. Coll. of Gastroenterology.