High incidence of thromboembolism in patients with central nervous system lymphoma

Abstract

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a frequent complication in patients with cancer throughout the course of the disease. Patients with brain tumors are at particularly high risk for VTE, and several risk factors were found in patients with malignant glioma. To the authors' knowledge, the incidence of VTE in patients with central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma is not known, and possible risk factors have not been identified to date. The objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency and risk factors of VTE in patients with CNS lymphoma.

Methods: The authors retrospectively evaluated the medical records of 42 patients with CNS lymphoma who were treated at their center between 1992 and 2001.

Results: It was found that 25 patients (59.5%) had VTE, and, in 3 patients (7%), the VTE was fatal. The authors could not demonstrate that age or ambulatory status could predict VTE in this group of patients, but almost all VTE events occurred during the early period of intensive therapy.

Conclusions: The high incidence of VTE found in this study indicates that anticoagulant prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin probably outweighs the risk and cost of such therapy. A prospective evaluation of newly diagnosed patients with CNS lymphoma is underway at the authors' center.