Patients with a malignant tumor have more extended thrombosis than patients without.

Abstract

Changes in the coagulability or rheology of the blood are supposed to cause an increased frequency of thrombosis in patients with a malignant tumor. These procoagulopathic disorders may not only increase the frequency of thrombosis but may also enlarge the extent of the thrombosis. The authors retrospectively analyzed, therefore, the extension of thrombosis in patients with and without a malignant tumor. From 1991 to 1995 in the University Hospital Essen 489 consecutive cases of thrombosis were diagnosed. The diagnosis was made by color Doppler sonography or phlebography; 230 patients (47%) suffered from a malignant tumor (110 men, 120 women). To exclude the influence of the patient's age on the extension of the thrombosis the authors distinguished three different age groups. In the tumor group aged from 21 to 40 years they found 10 large (iliacal, femoral, and crural veins), six medium (femoral and crural veins), and four small thromboses (crural veins). In the tumor group aged from 41 to 60 years they found 38 large, 24 medium, and 27 small thromboses. In the group without a tumor aged from 21 to 40 years they found seven large, 13 medium, and 28 small thromboses, and in the group aged from 41 to 60 years, 12 large, 29 medium, and 41 small thromboses. The difference between the two groups supports the assumption that in patients suffering from a malignant tumor, thromboses tend to be more extended than in patients without a malignant tumor.