The Triad
The triad consists of three components:
| Virchow's | Modern | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phenomena of interrupted blood-flow | Stasis | The first category, alterations in normal blood flow, refers to several situations. These include venous stasis, turbulence, mitral stenosis, and varicose veins. The equivalence of Virchow's version and the modern version has been disputed. |
| Phenomena associated with irritation of the vessel and its vicinity | Endothelial injury or vessel wall injury | The second category, injuries and/or trauma to endothelium includes vessel piercings and damages arising from shear stress or hypertension. This category is ruled by surface phenomena and contact with procoagulant surfaces, such as bacteria, shards of foreign materials, biomaterials of implants or medical devices, membranes of activated platelets, and membranes of monocytes in chronic inflammation. |
| Phenomena of blood-coagulation | Hypercoagulability | The last category, alterations in the constitution of blood, has numerous possible risk factors such as hyperviscosity, deficiency of antithrombin III, nephrotic syndrome, changes after severe trauma or burn, disseminated cancer, late pregnancy and delivery, race, age, whether the patient is a smoker, and obesity. All of these risk factors cause the situation called hypercoagulability. |
Read more about this topic: Virchow's Triad