Ahlbrecht et al identified risk factors for venous thromboembolism in a patient with cancer. These can help to identify a patient who may benefit from interventions to reduce the risk. The authors are from the Medical University of Vienna.
Patient selection: carcinoma
Risk factors for venous thromboembolism within 6 months:
(1) tumor grade poorly differentiated or undifferentiated (hazard ratio 1.0)
(2) high risk primary site (gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, lung, kidney; HR 4.3)
(3) adenocarcinoma (HR 2.7)
(4) D-dimer >= 1.32 µg/mL (75th percentile for study population; HR 2.2)
where:
• The elevated D-dimer may not be so much a risk factor as a manifestation of thrombus formation.
The risk of venous thromboembolism increases as the number of risk factors increase.
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