title: Symptomatic venous thromboembolism in acute leukemia. Incidence, risk factors, and impact on prognosis.
abstract: The association between malignant disorders and occurrence of venous thromboembolism is well established. Patients with cancer and venous thromboembolism have adverse prognosis. No systematic study on the incidence and prognostic impact of venous thromboembolism in acute leukemia has been performed as yet. We retrospectively evaluated the incidence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism before chemotherapy in 719 patients (371 males and 348 females, median age of 57.4 years), diagnosed with acute leukemia [534 with acute myelogenous leukemia, 185 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia]. Furthermore, the relationship of venous thromboembolism to clinical and laboratory parameters and its impact on prognosis was assessed. Fifteen patients (2.09%) had venous thromboembolism (objectively confirmed in 13 patients) in close temporal relationship to the onset of acute leukemia. The incidence of venous thromboembolism was the same in acute myelogenous and lymphoblastic leukemia. In five patients, pulmonary embolism was documented. Venous thromboembolism occurred in all subtypes of acute leukemia, but was most common in promyelocytic leukemia. All but one patient were treated with anticoagulants. No patient died from treatment-related bleedings or venous thromboembolism. Overall, survival, disease-free survival, and remission duration did not differ between the patient groups with and without venous thromboembolism. In contrast to solid tumors, venous thromboembolism before or at diagnosis of acute leukemia is not associated with poor prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Haematology and Haemostasis, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. sophie.ziegler@akh-wien.ac.at
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: Wolfgang R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Sperr
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Knöbl
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lehr
authors.forename: Ansgar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weltermann
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Jäger
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valent
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lechner
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007938:Leukemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012074:Remission Induction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents