Data from Selected New York Hospitals Shows Risk of Venous Thromboembolism is Much Higher in Cancer Patients
In Venous Thromboembolism (VTE)
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By: James Pitt Jun. 05, 2018
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a condition in which a blood clot breaks loose and travels in the blood, often cutting off circulation in a vessel. Cancer and cancer treatment are risk factors for VTE, and a 2007 paper found VTE occurred in 4.1% of US cancer patients, rising to 5.7% among patients on chemotherapy. VTE risk model calculators such as the International Medical Prevention Registry on Venous Thromboembolism (IMPROVE) take cancer into account. To investigate VTE risk among cancer patients, Dexur analysts examined the incidence of venous thromboembolism in cancer among CMS inpatients discharged at three major New York hospitals from 2013-2016.
The subgroup of cancer patients with the highest risk of VTE varied across hospitals. At North Shore University Hospital, lymphoma and non-acute leukemia patients had the highest risk of VTE. VTE was involved in 9.31% of lymphoma and non-acute leukemia patients inpatient discharges here. At New York Presbyterian Hospital (Weill Cornell), hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancer patients had the highest incidence of VTE, at 7.26%. This was the only category in which New York Presbyterian did not have lower VTE incidence than the other two hospitals.
VTE was more common in patients with major complications or comorbidities. At Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, NY), 20.37% of discharges with digestive cancers and MCC involved VTE. This was more than twice the incidence of VTE in digestive cancers without MCC at Montefiore, which was 9.8%.
The presence of cancer increases VTE risk, but in this sample, the specific type of cancer with the highest VTE incidence was not consistent across hospitals. Providers may need to consider hospital-level data to determine which subgroup of patients require the closest attention at their institution.
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- Total Discharges
- Total VTE Discharges
- VTE Incidence Rates (%)
For all inpatients, oncology and hematology, digestive malignancy, digestive malignancy with MCC, respiratory neoplasms, respiratory neoplasms with MCC, lymphoma and non-acute leukemia, and malignancy of hepatobiliary system or pancreas, from 2013-2016 for below hospitals
Hospitals mentioned in this article:
- North Shore University Hospital (Manhasset, NY)
- New York-Presbyterian Hospital/ Weill Cornell (525 East 68th Street, New York, NY)
- Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, NY)
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