Taller women are at greater risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism: The Iowa Women's Health Study

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurs frequently. Greater height is associated with increased risk of incident VTE, but it is unclear whether height is related to risk of VTE recurrence. Recurrent VTE is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, thus identifying individuals at greatest risk of experiencing a recurrent event, who may benefit from extended anticoagulant therapy, is vitally important. Using data from the Iowa Women's Health Study, we explored whether greater height was associated with increased risk of VTE recurrence. Among 1,691 women who experienced an initial VTE event, 286 (16.9%) experienced a recurrent event. Risk of recurrence was 76% (95% CI: 16%-186%) higher among women ≥66 inches [~168 cm] tall relative to those ≤62 inches [~158 cm] tall, after adjustment for age and waist circumference. Future research should evaluate whether body height improves clinical prediction of VTE recurrence risk.