Original scientific paper
Effects of fraxiparine therapy and d-dimer levels during treatment of deep vein thrombosis and thromboembolism in cancer patients
Deana Šturm
; Department of Transfusion Medicine and Hemostasis, University Hospital for Tumors, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Thrombosis is a common complication in cancer patients. It often occurs as the first sign suggestive of a malignancy, and also during the treatment since surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy present an additional trigger for the development of thrombosis and/or thromboembolism. In the last five years at the University Hospital for Tumors, Zagreb, Croatia, 31 cancer patients, 12 males and 19 females, aged 41-80 years, were monitored and treated for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). The patients were admitted for renal cancer 2, pancreatic cancer 2, colon cancer 4, thyroid cancer 1, ovarian cancer 3, breast cancer 7, melanoma 2, brain cancer 2, sarcoma 1, gastric cancer 1, cervical cancer 1, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 1 and esophageal cancer 4. DVT and PE were diagnosed preoperatively, during radiation therapy and in the course of chemotherapy in 7, 6 and 18 patients, respectively. To confirm the DVT diagnosis and suspected PE, Doppler US of the veins and spiral CT were performed, respectively. Samples of venous blood were collected from all patients into vacuteiner tubes coated with anticoagulant. Hemostasis tests were done on day 1, 3 and 7 of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) therapy (Fraxiparine). Fraxiparine in the dose of 0.8 ml sc (20000 ICUAXa) was administered every eight hours for DVT, or every six hours for PE. The paper presents D-dimer (DD) values measured on the Behring BCS using reagents of the same brand. A significant decrease of DD levels during Fraxiparine therapy was compared with the patients’ clinical recovery. After administration of LMWH, initially high DD levels decreased for 30% and 64% on day 3 and 7, respectively. The decrease of DD levels was accompanied with clinical recovery of the patients.
Keywords
Fraxiparine; D – dimers (DD); deep vein thrombosis (DVT); thromboembolism (TE); cancer
Hrčak ID:
281591
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2004.
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