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Host characteristics for essential thrombocytopenia defined
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A large international collaborative study has helped to find predictors of both venous and arterial thrombosis defined by WHO diagnostic criteria.
Researchers from seven international centers conducted a central histologic review and identified 891 patients with essential thrombocytopenia. They conducted an analysis to test the integrity of the WHO diagnositic criteria.
After a median follow-up of 6.2 years, 12% of patients had experienced a nonfatal thrombotic event, with the incidence of nonfatal arterial events being slightly higher (1.2% patient-years) than venous events (0.6% patient-years).
Results of the analysis indicated that only male sex was found to be predictive of venous thrombosis (HR=2; P=.04). On the other hand, several factors were found to predict risk for arterial thrombosis, including age older than 60 years (HR=1.7; P=.03); history of thrombosis (HR=2.1; P=.003); presence of cardiovascular risk factors in the form of tobacco use, hypertension or diabetes (HR=1.9; P=.007); leukocytosis (HR=1.7; P=.04); and presence of JAK2V617F (HR=2.6; P=.009).
The researchers said that the difference among the predictive risk factors between arterial and venous thrombosis “may be related to a more specific pathogenetic role of leukocytosis and related inflammatory markers to induce a chronic endothelial dysfunction in arteries.”
The findings may support ongoing use of aggressive treatment in older patients and in those with previous vascular events.
For more information:
- Carobbio A. Blood. 2011;117:5857-5859.