Incidence, risk factors and consequences of portal vein and systemic thromboses in hepatocellular carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Hemostatic activation may be important for tumor biology. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is commonly associated with portal vein thrombosis (PVT). Little is known about factors predictive for PVT in patients with HCC or its correlation with systemic venous thromboembolism (VTE).


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective chart review of 194 consecutive patients diagnosed with HCC at the University of Rochester between 1998 and 2004 to identify the frequency and risk factors for PVT and its correlation with VTE and survival.


RESULTS
Sixty patients (31%) had PVT with a higher rate in the non-transplant group compared to transplanted patients (34% vs. 24%; p=0.15). In multivariate analysis, Child Turcotte Pugh (CTP) class, stage, major vessel involvement, serum albumin, and serum AFP were independently associated with PVT (p<0.05 for each). The presence of PVT was associated with reduced survival (median survival 2.3 months for those with PVT versus 17.6 months for those without PVT, HR 2.05, p=0.004). The incidence of systemic VTE in the total population was 6.7%, and patients with PVT had a higher rate of systemic VTE compared to patients without PVT (11.5% vs. 4.4%; p=0.04).


CONCLUSIONS
PVT is common in patients with HCC, indicates advanced disease, is associated with worse survival and correlates with systemic VTE, suggesting a common mechanism of hemostatic activation. Advanced stage, higher CTP class, major vessel involvement, low serum albumin, and high AFP levels are predictive of PVT in patients with HCC.
Department of Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Gregory C
GC
Connolly
Rui
R
Chen
Ollivier
O
Hyrien
Parvez
P
Mantry
Adel
A
Bozorgzadeh
Peter
P
Abt
Alok A
AA
Khorana
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011169:Portal Vein; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000401:mortality*