Arrive: A retrospective registry of Indian patients with venous thromboembolism

There is lack of substantial Indian data on venous thromboembolism (VTE). The aim of this study was to provide real-world information on patient characteristics, management strategies, clinical outcomes, and temporal trends in VTE.

Multicentre retrospective registry involving 549 medical records of patients with confirmed diagnosis of VTE (deep vein thrombosis [DVT] confirmed by Doppler ultrasonography; pulmonary embolism [PE] by computed tomography, pulmonary angiography and/or V/Q scan) from 2006 to 2010 at three Indian tertiary care hospitals.

Acute DVT without PE, acute DVT with PE, and PE alone were reported in 64% (352/549), 23% (124/549), and 13% (73/549) patients, respectively. Mean age was 47 (±16) years, and 70% were males. H/o DVT (34%), surgery including orthopedic surgery (28%), trauma (16%), and immobilization >3 days (14%) were the most common risk factors for VTE. Hypertension (25%), diabetes (19%), and neurological disease (other than stroke) (8%) were the most common co-morbidities. Most (94%) were treated with heparin alone (82%) or fondaparinux (2%) for initial anticoagulation; low molecular weight heparin alone (5%) or warfarin/acenocoumarol (76%) for long-term anticoagulation. Anticoagulant treatment was stopped because of bleeding in 2% (9/515) patients. Mortality was 7% among patients diagnosed with VTE during hospital stay versus 1% in those hospitalized with diagnosed VTE. The annual incidence of DVT (±PE) increased from 2006 to 2010.

Acute DVT alone was responsible for the substantial burden of VTE in Indian patients. Bleeding was not the limiting factor for anticoagulant treatment in most patients.