Table 1.
Aetiologies and outcomes of published antemortem cases of non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis
| Aetiology | Total cases | Cerebrovascular stroke | Other thromboembolic events |
| Malignancy | 108 (59%) | 89 (82%) | 54 (50%) |
| Breast | 5 (3%) | 5 (100%) | 2 (40%) |
| Colorectal | 4 (2%) | 2 (50%) | 1 (25%) |
| Oesophagogastroduodenal | 11 (6%) | 11 (100%) | 4 (36%) |
| Hepatobiliary | 4 (2%) | 4 (100%) | 0 (0%) |
| Haematologic | 5 (3%) | 1 (20%) | 2 (40%) |
| Lung | 30 (16%) | 25 (83%) | 14 (47%) |
| Ovarian | 16 (9%) | 15 (94%) | 13 (81%) |
| Pancreas | 14 (8%) | 9 (64%) | 10 (71%) |
| Adenocarcinoma of unknown primary | 7 (4%) | 5 (71%) | 3 (43%) |
| Uterus | 7 (4%) | 7 (100%) | 3 (43%) |
| Other malignancies* | 6 (3%) | 5 (83%) | 2 (33%) |
| Antiphospholipid syndrome | 29 (16%) | 10 (34%) | 8 (28%) |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 15 (8%) | 4 (27%) | 5 (33%) |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 3 (2%) | 2 (67% | 0 (0%) |
| Giant cell arteritis | 2 (1%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Other† | 25 (14%) | 10 (40%) | 6 (24%) |
| All | 182 | 115 (63%) | 73 (40%) |
Aetiologies are expressed as a number (%).
*Aetiologies included bladder, cervical, prostate and thyroid cancers.
†Aetiologies included adenomyosis, Crohn’s disease, hypereosinophilic syndrome, hyperhomocysteinaemia, Behcets, bone marrow transplant, mesenteric vein thrombosis, systemic sclerosis, Still’s disease, temporal arteritis, Wegner’s granulomatosis and unclear aetiology.