Table 2. Cancer patients: Clinical characteristics according to long-term anticoagulant therapy.
| VKA start <7 days | VKA start >7 days | LMWH alone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients | ||||
| N | 1,516 | 619 | 4,210 | |
| Clinical characteristics | ||||
| Gender (males) | 840 (55%) | 350 (57%) | 2,243 (53%) | |
| Mean age (years±SD) | 70±12 | 67±13 ‡ | 66±13 ‡ | |
| Age >75 years | 632 (42%) | 199 (32%) | 1176 (28%) | |
| Body weight (kg±SD) | 74±13 | 73±13 | 71±14 ‡ | |
| Underlying conditions | ||||
| Chronic heart failure | 87 (5.7%) | 31 (5.0%) | 152 (3.6%) ‡ | |
| Chronic lung disease | 199 (13%) | 70 (11%) | 377 (9.0%) ‡ | |
| CrCl level 30–60 ml/min | 575 (38%) | 226 (37%) | 1,454 (35%) | |
| CrCl levels <30 mL/min | 87 (5.7%) | 30 (4.8%) | 253 (6.0%) | |
| Recent major bleeding | 15 (1.0%) | 18 (2.9%) † | 95 (2.3%) † | |
| Anemia | 757 (50%) | 361 (58%) ‡ | 2,926 (70%) ‡ | |
| Cancer characteristics | ||||
| Metastases | 455 (30%) | 200 (32%) | 2,550 (61%) ‡ | |
| Initial VTE presentation | ||||
| Pulmonary embolism | 791 (52%) | 331 (54%) | 2,060 (49%)* | |
| Proximal DVT alone | 627 (41%) | 246 (40%) | 1,952 (46%) ‡ | |
| Bilateral DVT alone | 27 (3.7%) | 19 (6.6%)* | 143 (6.7%) † | |
| Upper-extremity DVT | 46 (6.3%) | 32 (11%)* | 395 (18%) ‡ |
Abbreviations: VKA, vitamin K antagonists; LMWH, low-molecular-weight heparin; SD, standard deviation; CrCl, creatinine clearance; VTE, venous thromboembolism; DVT, deep vein thrombosis. Differences between patients staring VKA within the first week and the other groups
* p <0.05
†p <0.01
‡p <0.001.