Characteristics and Impacts of Venous Thromboembolism in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Introduction Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication in cancer patients, and is associated with worse prognosis in such population. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) poses high risk for VTE; however, data is scarce regarding the characteristics and consequences of VTE in HCC patients. Method We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records (EMR) of 270 patients diagnosed with HCC from 2000 to 2015 in Cook County Health and Hospitals System. We report the cumulative incidence of VTE in the present cohort, and identified through multivariate logistic regression the independent risk factors of the development of VTE. Overall prognosis of patients with and without VTE were presented and compared. Results Sixteen cases (5.93%) of VTE were documented in the present study. In multivariate analysis, obesity, Child B cirrhosis, intra-hepatic lesions more than 3, and multi-organ extrahepatic metastasis were significantly associated with VTE development ( p