Incidence and risk factors for venous thromboembolism in Thai hospitalized lymphoma patients

Abstract

© 2017 Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, THAILAND. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complica- tion in cancer patients. However, the magnitude of this problem in Thai hospitalized lymphoma patients has not been well studied. To identify the incidence and risk factors for VTE in those patients, retrospective and prospective cohort studies were conducted in lymphoma patients admitted to a medical school affiliated hospital. Patient profile and risk factors were recorded. Patients were followed up for 90 days after admission. A total of 469 patients were included, of which 422 patients identified from 2007 to 2011 from hospital electronic data base were in the retrospective cohort, and 47 patients enrolled during 6 months in 2012 were in the prospective cohort. Two patients in the retrospective cohort had unconfirmed VTE, and then were excluded. The incidences of VTE in the retrospective cohort and the prospective cohort were 3.6% and 8.5%, respectively (p=0.113). In the retrospective cohort, VTE rates in Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) patients were 3.4% and 5.9%, respectively (p= 0.347). All VTEs in the prospective cohort were in NHL patients. Concerning time to VTE, all events occurred before starting or during the first 3 courses of chemotherapy. Upon multivariate analysis, the independent risk factor for VTE was being bedridden (adjusted odds ratio 6.21, 95% confidence interval 1.59 - 24.31). In conclusion, the incidence of VTE in Thai hospitalized lymphoma patients admitted for chemotherapy is high. This implies that VTE prophylaxis should be considered during the early courses of chemotherapy in bedridden lymphoma patients.