Vol. 28, No. 3, 2006 (October)
	Content

UPPER EXTREMITY DVT IN ONCOLOGICAL PATIENTS: ANALYSIS OF RISK FACTORS. DATA FROM THE RIETE REGISTRY

M. Monreal^1, *, F.J. Munoz², V. Rosa³, C. Romero⁴, P. Roman⁵, P. Di Micco⁶, P. Prandoni⁷

¹Internal Medicine Division, Hospital of Germans Trias i Pujol University, Badalona, Spain
²Internal Medicine Division, Hospital de Mollet, Barcelona, Spain
³Internal Medicine Division, Hospital Vega Baja, Orihuela, Alicante, Spain
⁴Internal Medicine Division, Hospital Costa del Sol, Marbella, Malaga, Spain
⁵Internal Medicine Division, General Hospital of Requena, Requena, Valencia, Spain
⁶Internal Medicine Division, Buonconsiglio Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Naples, Italy
⁷Medical and Surgical Science, Medical Clinic II, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

Abstract. Aim: The aim of the study is to up date informations on the clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) from the Informatised Registry on Venous Thromboembolism (RIETE). Methods: RIETE is an ongoing registry of consecutive patients with symptomatic, objectively confirmed, acute venous thromboembolism. In this analysis the clinical characteristics and 3-month outcome of all cancer patients with upper-extremity DVT were evaluated. Results: Up to February 2006, a total of 14,391 patients with symptomatic, objectively confirmed acute venous thromboembolism had been enrolled in RIETE. Of the 2,945 patients with active cancer 196 (6.7%) had arm DVT: 104 had catheter-associated DVT. Most cancer patients with arm DVT were males, younger than 65, and had a low incidence of additional risk factors or underlying diseases. Twenty of them (10%) had symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE). Most patients were treated with low-molecular-weigh heparin, both initially (94%) and after discharge (75%). During the 3-month follow-up period 12 patients (6.1%) developed VTE recurrences (PE 6, DVT 6), 8 (4.1%) had major bleeding (fatal in 3), 43 (22%) died. Conclusions: Our data from the RIETE registry show that upper limb DVT is a serious complication in patients with cancer, with a high incidence of recurrences and bleeding complications.

Key Words: cancer, catheter, vein, thrombosis, risk factor

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