title: Autoimmune hemolytic anemia and venous thromboembolism: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) among patients with autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA).
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies that reported odds ratio, relative risk, hazard ratio or standardized incidence ratio comparing the risk of VTE in patients with AIHA versus participants without AIHA. Pooled risk ratio and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 592 potentially relevant articles, four studies (three cohort studies and one cross-sectional study) met our inclusion criteria and were included in the data analysis. The pooled risk ratio of VTE in patients with AIHA was 2.63 (95% CI, 1.37-5.05). The statistical heterogeneity of this study was high with an I(2) of 97%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrated a significantly increased risk of VTE among patients with AIHA.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Electronic address: P.Ungprasert@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Patompong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ungprasert
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA; Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Pansakorn
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tanratana
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Narat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Srivali
mesh_terms: D000744:Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016017:Odds Ratio; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Autoimmune hemolytic anemia; Epidemiology; Meta-analysis; Venous thromboembolism