Deep venous thrombosis during therapy for Hodgkin's disease

Upon reviewing the case records of 177 patients with Hodgkin's disease, we identified ten patients (6%) with deep vein thromboses confirmed by diagnostic tests. Most of the patients initially presented with advanced Hodgkin's disease as defined by stage and constitutional symptoms. Thrombotic episodes usually occurred between cycles of chemotherapy in the absence of clinically detectable tumor. Infusion of chemotherapeutic vesicants may have contributed to the high proportion of upper extremity deep venous thrombosis in this series. Thrombotic episodes did not necessarily imply recurrent disease. Three patients developed thromboses after completion of therapy and remained free of Hodgkin's disease or other malignancies at 85+, 18+, and 17+ months of follow-up.