Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 6, 2025
Tumor Treating Field Therapy in Combination with Bevacizumab for the Treatment of Recurrent Glioblastoma
Published on: October 27, 2014
Therapeutic Anticoagulation Impacts MR Morphologic Recurrence Patterns in Glioblastoma-A Matched-Pair Analysis
Daniel Dubinski1,2, Sae-Yeon Won1,2, Bedjan Behmanesh1,2
1Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital, Goethe University, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany.
Background:
Glioblastoma (GBM) patients are at particularly high risk for thrombotic complications. In the event of a postoperative pulmonary embolism, therapeutic anticoagulation (tAC) is indispensable. The impact of therapeutic anticoagulation on recurrence pattern in GBM is currently unknown.
Methods:
We conducted a matched-pair cohort analysis of 57 GBM patients with or without tAC that were matched for age, sex, gross total resection and MGMT methylation status in a ratio of 1:2. Patients' characteristics and clinical course were evaluated using medical charts. MRI characteristics were evaluated by two independent authors blinded to the AC status.
Results:
The morphologic MRI appearance in first GBM recurrence showed a significantly higher presence of multifocal, midline crossing and sharp demarcated GBM recurrence patterns in patients with therapeutic tAC compared to the matched control group. Although statistically non-significant, the therapeutic tAC cohort showed increased survival.
Conclusion:
Therapeutic anticoagulation induced significant morphologic changes in GBM recurrences. The underlying pathophysiology is discussed in this article but remains to be further elucidated.
