Upper extremity deep venous thrombosis prevalence in the NHS Grampian Medical Ambulatory clinic: diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic considerations in oncology patients

Stavroula Kastora* (Corresponding Author), Olusegun Oduyoye, Shafaq Mahmood

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Introduction
Whilst upper extremity deep vein thromboses (UEDVT) account for approximately 5 to 10% of all cases of DVT, rigorous guidelines regarding diagnosis and management of presenting patients remain to be developed. The association of UEDVT with concurrent asymptomatic pulmonary embolism as well as the first presentation of malignancy deems essential rigorous research and clinical guideline development to ensure optimal patient care.

Methods
This retrospective audit study is the first to provide estimates of UEDVT prevalence in the North-East Deanery main hospital centre, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI).

Results
Of the 605 patients attending the ARI Ambulatory Emergency Care (AEC) clinic with clinical suspicion of UEDVT, 38 (6.2%) had a confirmatory diagnosis. Underlying malignancy, presence of PICC line, and cardiovascular co-morbidities were identified as common confounding factors. Subclavian vein with concurrent extension to primarily the cephalic vein thrombosis was identified as the most commonly thrombosed venous territories. Importantly, oncology patients were found to have poorer survival outcomes following an UEDVT, in comparison to patients with other significant co-morbidities (cardiovascular, chronic renal disease, inflammatory bowel disease): HR 5.814 (95%CI 1.15, 29.25), p 0.012. Lastly, genetic associations were drawn between patient genetic status as tested for other co-morbidities and prothrombotic cellular cascades, suggesting rigorous VTE assessment in patients identified with congenital or acquired mutations, namely, in CALR, JAK, MSH 2/6, MYC, and FXN.

Conclusions
Overall, this study offers the first report of UEDVT presentations in the UK with no restrictions of patient performance status or underlying co-morbidities and provides a rounded clinical picture of patient characteristics, diagnosis, management, and prognostic associations in view of rigorous guideline development.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1567-1575
Number of pages7
JournalIrish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -)
Volume191
Early online date13 Sept 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2022

Data Availability Statement

Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02775-0.

Keywords

  • Bioinformatics
  • Oncology
  • Prevalence
  • Survival analysis
  • Upper extremity deep venous thrombosis

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