Incidence and risk factors of silent deep venous thromboembolism before interval debulking surgery in ovarian cancer patients, a tertiary centre experience

Abstract

Objective

To determine the prevalence and risk factors for the development of asymptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) in ovarian cancer patients who underwent interval cytoreductive surgery after finishing neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods

This is a prospective observational trial. Female patients with pathologically proven ovarian cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy without clinical evidence of VTE were included.

Results

A total of 107 patients were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 53.37 years, and the mean body mass index (BMI) was 34.11 kg/m². Seven (6.5 %) patients suffered from silent VTE, as documented by bilateral Doppler ultrasound in the pre- and postoperative settings. The mean age of the patients in the VTE group was 56.17 years, and their mean body mass index was 31.71 Kg/m². Their median serum CA125 concentration was elevated (325.6 units/ml). On the other hand, the median D-dimer level was elevated by 678 ng/ml fibrinogen equivalent units (FEUs) in the same group of patients. In the present study, comorbidities did not influence the incidence of VTE, as the 7 patients who were diagnosed with VTE did not have any comorbidities. Most of the patients who were diagnosed with serous adenocarcinoma (71.4 %) or stage IIIc disease (57.1 %) were most likely to develop VTE.

Conclusion

Silent VTE is more prevalent in patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer and serous carcinomas.