Venous thrombosis in children with solid tumors.
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.
Schiavetti
Amalia
A
Department of Pediatrics, University La Sapienza, Institute Regina Elena, Rome, Italy. amalia.schiavetti@uniroma1.it
Foco
Micaela
M
Ingrosso
Annapaola
A
Bonci
Enea
E
Conti
Laura
L
Matrunola
Marco
M
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