Clinical experience with upper extremity venous sonography in a high-risk cancer population.

Overview

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of sonographically evident upper extremity venous thrombosis in symptomatic cancer patients with and without central venous catheters. METHODS: Retrospective review of 573 consecutive upper extremity venous sonographic reports from a 26-month period was performed. Findings including distribution of venous thrombosis, the presence of a central line, cancer type, and miscellaneous findings were recorded. RESULTS: Overall, 514 studies (90%) had satisfactory visualization of all upper extremity vessels; 53 (9%) had limited visualization of 1 or more vessels; and 6 (1%) were inconclusive. Venous thrombosis was present in 227 (40%) of 573 studies. Of the studies with positive findings, there were 186 acute, 13 chronic, 19 fibrin sheath versus nonocclusive, and 9 superficial thromboses. Central venous catheters were present in 325 (57%) of 573 studies. Sonographically evident thrombosis was present in 157 (48%) of 325 studies with central catheters versus 70 (28%) of 248 studies without central venous catheters (P = .001) CONCLUSIONS: Upper extremity venous thrombosis is common (40%) in symptomatic cancer patients and is nearly twice as frequent in cancer patients with indwelling central venous catheters.

Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine Journal