Abdominal obesity and the risk of venous thromboembolism among women: a potential role of interleukin-6

Abdominal obesity increases the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). It remains unclear to what extent inflammation contributes to the risk of VTE from abdominal obesity. Our objectives were to investigate the association between abdominal obesity and VTE and the effect of inflammation on this association in a case-control study comprised of women. We included 84 patients with VTE (18-60 years of age) and 100 controls. Waist circumference (WC), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels were determined at least 7 months after the thrombotic event. A total of 51 patients (61%) and 43 (43%) controls had abdominal obesity (WC ≥88 cm). The odds ratios (OR) adjusted for age were 2.40 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-5.41; P=0.035] for a WC ≥88 cm compared to a WC