title: Venous thrombosis in children with solid tumors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevalence of venous thrombosis (VT) in children with solid tumor and the role of different risk factors are not defined yet.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of both symptomatic and asymptomatic catheter-associated thrombosis events in children affected with different solid tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with a solid tumor, admitted as day-care, were consecutively enrolled over a period of 10 months. All of them had a central venous line. Physical examination, D-dimer serum tests, and eco-color-Doppler ultrasonography were performed once at any time before catheter removal.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-two patients (14 females and 28 males)-mean age 115 months-were evaluated. Five of the 42 patients (12%) had VT. In 4 of these, VT was catheter-related: 3 asymptomatic and 1 symptomatic. In the last patient, VT was clinically symptomatic and not catheter related. Patients with longer duration of catheter insertion presented with a higher rate of VT (P=0.05). Moreover, patients affected with neuroblastoma showed a higher rate of VT than the others with different solid tumors (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VT was visualized by echo-color-Doppler ultrasonography in 12% of the patients; it was asymptomatic in 7%. In our small series, VT was related to neuroblastoma disease and a longer duration of catheter insertion. Prospective and multicentric studies are required to select risk factors for VT in children with solid tumors.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, University La Sapienza, Institute Regina Elena, Rome, Italy. amalia.schiavetti@uniroma1.it
authors: Amalia
authors: A
authors: Schiavetti
authors: Micaela
authors: M
authors: Foco
authors: Annapaola
authors: A
authors: Ingrosso
authors: Enea
authors: E
authors: Bonci
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Conti
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Matrunola
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology