Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a blood clot that forms in the vein. Affecting one in a thousand people annually,1 VTE is responsible for more deaths per year than breast cancer, HIV and motor vehicle crashes combined.2 VTE presents clinically as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or blood clots in the veins of the leg, pelvis and – sometimes – alternate sites. If a deep vein thrombosis breaks off and travels through the bloodstream to the lungs, it can cause a life-threatening blockage called pulmonary embolism (PE). For almost one-quarter of patients with a pulmonary embolism, sudden death is the first clinical symptom.3