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p ostpartum pe r Lcd and also for a longer follow-up of these
women t o prevent l ong t e rm health outcomes. Further study i s
a lso ne eded t o i d e ntify the more specific 1: 15k factors and
a l s o to confirm the f indings noted here.
Thrombotic v asc u l a r d i s ease:
Bas ed on clinical diagnosis a lone the i nc i de nc e of
t h r ombo t ic va scul ar disease was observed to be 7. S per 1000
deliveries. Thi s r a t e i s probably t he l ea s t accurate in t h i s
s t udy be cause this disorder is very difficult to diagnose wi t h
clinical s i g ns a lone . Sophisticated investigati ve procedures
are required fo r correct diagnosis in t he major ity o f c a s e s .
It sh ould a lso be remembered that the incidence noted
here also reflects disease oc c u r ring in t he early puerperium
alone. Since over 95 \ of cases in most s t udie s with longer
follow up peri ods were ob s erved to occ ur du r i ng t he first two
we e ks postpartum the r a t e r eported in this s t udy is probably
a reasonable estimate of t he puerperal in c idence for the s t udy
popUlation [ 132 , 13 4) .
Despite the diagnostic limitations, the incidence of 7. 8
per 1000 obtained i n this eeudy is co mparable to rates
reported f rom stUdies in the western world Where i ncidences
r a nge from 4-14 .7 per 1000 deliveries (1 32, 134 ) .
Postpartum pelvic i n f e c t i on is a well-recognised
predisposing factor for pelvic thrombophlebit i s . If we