Recurrence of venous thromboembolism among adults acute leukemia patients treated at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: Incidence and risk factors.

The purpose was to determine the incidence and risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence among adult acute leukemia patients. We performed a retrospective study of adult acute leukemia patients who were treated at our institution between November 1999 and May 2005. Medical records of 139 patients with an initial VTE were reviewed and followed up to May 2010 for VTE recurrence. Of these 139 patients [86 with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), 53 with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)], 27 (19.4%, 16 AML and 11 ALL) had VTE recurrence. The overall incidence rate of VTE was 8.6 per 100 person-years (median follow-up time: 0.9years). It was 5.9 and 12.4 per 100 person-years among ALL and AML patients, respectively. The cumulative proportion of recurrent VTE was 2.16%, 10.9%, 16.6%, 25.9%, 30.6%, and 34.2% at 1month, 6months, 1year, 3years, 5years, and 7years, respectively. In a multivariate Cox hazards model, significant predictors for VTE recurrence included catheter thrombosis [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR)]:6.3, 95%CI:1.17-34.0), prior history of hematologic cancer (aHR:4.2, 95%CI:1.5-11.2), chronic lung disease (aHR: 3.4, 95%CI:0.92-12.5), psychological disorder (aHR: 4.3, 95%CI:1.5-12.2), and liver disease (aHR: 3.8, 95%CI: 1.04-14.3). VTE recurrence is common among adult acute leukemia patients and it continues up to 7years after the initial episode. Catheter thrombosis, a history of hematologic malignancy antecedent to acute leukemia, and lung, liver and psychiatric co-morbidities increase the patient risk for VTE recurrence. Further studies should be conducted to improve the prevention of VTE recurrence in leukemia patients.

A retrospective study of venous thromboembolism in acute leukemia patients treated at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The purpose was to determine the incidence and prevalence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in acute leukemia patients from our institution. We conducted a retrospective study on newly diagnosed acute leukemia patients who presented at our institution from November 1999 to May 2005. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation were used to describe patient characteristics. Measures of morbidity were used to address VTE risk. Chi-square testing, Fisher's exact testing, Mann-Whitney analyses, or median testing were used to determine between-group differences. Data analyses were conducted using Stata version 11 (Stata Corp., College Station, TX). Two hundred and ninety-nine patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 996 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were included. After excluding patients diagnosed with VTE prior to or at the time of leukemia diagnosis, during the mean time follow-up period of 2.5 years (range: 0.0025-10.3 years), the overall incidence rate of VTE was 3.7 per 100 person-years: 4.2 per 100 person-years for ALL and 3.4 per 100 person-years for AML. Among all patients, the majority (80.6%) developed VTE within 12 months after diagnosis and during thrombocytopenia. The most common VTE was central venous catheter (CVC)-associated upper-extremity deep venous thrombosis. Pulmonary embolism occurred in 15% of ALL patients and 8% of AML patients. VTE recurred in 20.7% of ALL patients and 18.6% of AML patients. VTE occurs frequently in patients with acute leukemia. Studies are needed to identify risk factors for the development and recurrence of VTE among patients with acute leukemia and to establish more effective methods for preventing and treating VTEs in leukemia patients who have thrombocytopenia and/or CVC.