Risk Factors for Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Small Cell Lung Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 13% of all lung cancers. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a frequent complication. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors for VTE in SCLC patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of patients with histologically confirmed SCLC treated between January 2015 and June 2018 at Sotiria General Hospital, Athens, Greece. RESULTS: Two hundred and seventeen patients were included in the analysis. The incidence of VTE was 4.1%. Increased body mass index (BMI) was correlated with the development of VTE. Moreover, VTE appeared more frequently in patients with major vessel infiltration and with poor Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status. Other factors, including gender, age, stage, presence of metastasis, treatment, immobilization, anticoagulation, comorbidities, and laboratory values did not correlate with the development of VTE. CONCLUSION: Factors associated with the development of VTE were BMI, major vessel infiltration and PS. Identifying factors that predispose to VTE could help physicians detect high-risk patients who would benefit from prophylactic anticoagulation therapy.

New data for venous thromboembolism in patients with small cell lung cancer: A review.

Malignancy is an important predisposing factor for thromboembolic disease. Patients with malignancy display 4 to 10 times greater risk than the general population. As for lung cancer, that risk seems to further increase and become up to 20 times higher. The aim of this article is to review the International literature in order to highlight for the first time, the correlation between thromboembolic disease and small cell lung cancer. PubMed, Medline and Embase databases were searched from 1990 up to 2016, for retrospective and prospective studies that investigate the correlation between thromboembolic disease and small cell lung cancer. The incidence rate of thromboembolic disease found in these studies ranged between 6.8% and 11.5%. Thromboembolic disease is associated with a reduced survival in patients with small cell lung cancer and six factors seemed to increase the risk of thromboembolism: chemotherapy, cisplatin treatment, smoking, extensive disease, the infiltration of the superior vena cava and multiple concomitant diseases. Thromboembolic disease shows an increased incidence in patients with small cell lung cancer and more research with well-designed studies is required in order to study in detail the anticoagulation treatment and the survival in small cell lung cancer patients.

Nitrofurantoin-induced acute pulmonary toxicity.

We report a case of a female admitted to the emergency department with fever and severe type I acute respiratory failure. After detailed examination, all other potential causes were excluded and the patient was diagnosed with nitrofurantoin-induced acute pulmonary toxicity.