Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common event in brain tumour patients. The risk is further believed to increase with the addition of bevacizumab. In view of limited literature addressing this issue, we found the need to conduct this study.
The database of the adult patients with primary brain tumour on bevacizumab therapy, was utilised to see the occurrence of VTE. The demographics were noted and Khorana score was calculated. Pearson correlation analysis was done and the Pearson correlation coefficient was estimated between Khorana score and VTE. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Out of 80 patients, 7 (8.8%) had VTE events after starting bevacizumab. It was diagnosed as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in 4 (5%) patients and pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) in 3 (3.8%) patients. Also, out of all, 43 (53.8%) patients belonged to the low risk category of Khorana score, while 37 (46.2%) patients were in the intermediate category. There was no significant association between Khorana scores obtained and VTE (fisher exact test, p-value = 0.171). Khorana score and VTE
Khorana sore Venous thromboembolism (VTE) Yes No 0 2 (4.7%) 41 (95.3%) 1 4 (12.1%) 29 (87.9%) 2 1 (25%) 3 (75%) 3 0 0
The incidence of VTE in primary primary brain tumour patients receiving bevacizumab therapy is low. Low and intermediate risk Khorana scores are unable to predict the risk of VTE in our population.
The authors.
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All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.