Mechanical Venous Thrombectomy for Deep Venous Thrombosis in Cancer Patients: A Single-Center Retrospective Study
Riya M. Patel, Koustav Pal, Syed Hadi Ahmed, J. Kuban, Milan Patel, Ketan Y. Shah, Peiman Habibollahi, Zeyad Metwalli, Varshana Gurusamy, Sanjay Gupta, Cristhiam M. Rojas‐Hernandez, Vahid Afshar‐Kharghan, Michael H. Kroll, Rahul A. Sheth
Abstract
PURPOSE: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major contributor to the mortality of cancer patients. Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is an endovascular technique that physically removes a thrombus without thrombolytics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate safety, efficacy, and clinical outcomes following MT for lower extremity DVT in cancer patients. METHODS: This single-center, retrospective study evaluated outcomes following MT of lower extremity DVT in cancer patients from November 2019 to May 2023. The primary outcome measure was clinical success, defined as a decrease in Villalta score by at least 2 points following the intervention. Secondary outcomes included repeat intervention-free survival and overall survival. Technical success was defined as restoring venous flow with mild (< 10%) or no residual filling defect. RESULTS: In total, 90 patients and 113 procedures were included. Technical and clinical success was achieved in 81% and 87% of procedures performed. Repeat intervention-free survival at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months post-procedure was 92%, 82%, and 77%, respectively. The complication rate was 2.7%. Pathologic analysis of the extracted thrombus revealed tumor thrombus in 18.4% (18/98) samples. Overall survival for the study cohort was 87% at 1 month, 74% at 3 months, and 62% at 6 months. Patients who were found to have tumor thrombi were noted to have a decreased overall survival compared to patients with non-tumor thrombi (P = 0.012). CONCLUSION: MT is safe and efficacious in reducing cancer patients' VTE-related symptoms. The high rate of tumor thrombus in thrombectomy specimens suggests this phenomenon is more common than suspected.