Abstract:

Patients with hematological malignancies and peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICCs) tend to develop catheter-associated upper extremity venous thromboses (UEVTs) and pulmonary emboli (PE) [ 1 , 2 ]. Active cancer, malposition and PICC gauge are common risk factors for PICC-UEVTs [ 2 , 3 ]. The association between D-dimer thresholds before catheter insertion and the development of PICC-UEVT in cancer patients remains unknown. D-dimers have been widely used in clinical practice as a high-sensitivity diagnostic approach for suspected venous thromboembolisms (VTEs) [ 4 ]. Higher D-dimer levels have been associated with an increased risk of lower limb deep venous thromboses (DVTs) or PEs [ 5 ]. Age-adjusted D-dimers increased the efficiency of excluding clinically suspected DVTs [ 6 ]. Nonetheless, little work has focused on patients with hematological malignancies receiving a PICC.

Reference:
Kang, J., Sun, W., Li, H., Ma, E. and Chen, W. (2020) Variable D-dimer thresholds in predicting peripherally inserted central catheter-related vein thrombosis in patients with hematological malignancies: A pilot study. Thrombosis Research. 190, p.8-10. doi: 10.1016/j.thromres.2020.03.022. (Epub ahead of print).