Clinical characteristics of venous thromboembolism onset from severe high altitude pulmonary edema in plateau regions

Yanmin Liu; Xinwei Feng; Yongxue Tang; Yanqiu Sun; Xiaoyan Pu; Xiaokai Feng

doi:10.1186/s12959-023-00469-4

Clinical characteristics of venous thromboembolism onset from severe high altitude pulmonary edema in plateau regions

Thromb J. 2023 Feb 28;21(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s12959-023-00469-4.

Authors

Yanmin Liu^#^{1

2}, Xinwei Feng^#³, Yongxue Tang³, Yanqiu Sun⁴, Xiaoyan Pu⁵, Xiaokai Feng^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital, 2 Gonghe Road, Chengdong District, Xining, Qinghai Province, 810007, China.
² Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, 199 RenAi Road, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, 215123, China.
³ College of Medicine, Qinghai University, 16 Kunlun Road, Chengxi District, Xining, Qinghai Province, 810001, China.
⁴ The Department of Radiology, Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital, 2 Gonghe Road, Chengdong District, Xining, Qinghai Province, 810007, China. syqldn@126.com.
⁵ College of Medicine, Qinghai University, 16 Kunlun Road, Chengxi District, Xining, Qinghai Province, 810001, China. puxiaoyan1975@163.com.
⁶ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Qinghai Provincial People's Hospital, 2 Gonghe Road, Chengdong District, Xining, Qinghai Province, 810007, China. fengxiaokai2020@163.com.
⁷ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine and Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 8, Gongti South Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100020, China. fengxiaokai2020@163.com.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: To investigate venous thromboembolism (VTE) in hospitalized patients with severe high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), we performed a single center retrospective study to evaluate its clinical characteristics, prognosis, and potential thromboprophylaxis strategies in a large referral and treatment center in plateau regions.

Methods: We studied a total of 18 patients with severe HAPE from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2021. Demographic and clinical data, laboratory data, including ultrasound scans of the lower extremities and cardiac ultrasound, and computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) variables were obtained, and comparisons were made between groups with and without VTE.

Results: Of the 18 patients hospitalized with severe HAPE (age 43 (range, 34-54) years, 14 [77.8%] men), 7 patients developed VTE (38.9%), including 5 with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), 2 of whom had DVT only. Eighteen patients are all firstly rapid ascent to high altitudes which the mean altitude was 3700 m (3656-4050 m). Compared with patients who did not have VTE, patients with VTE had a longer time in hospital (13 [11, 19] versus 9 [7, 12]; P = 0.027), respiratory failure (6 [85.7%] versus 2 [18.2%]; P = 0.013), the shortened APTT (21.50 [19.00, 27.50] versus 26.30 [24.80, 30.10]; P = 0.044) and the higher level of D-dimer (7.81 [4.62, 9.60] versus 2.90 [1.75, 3.37]; P = 0.003). The proportion of thromboprophylaxis is too low in our cohort which 2 of 18 (11.1%) patients were given VTE prophylaxis. There was no statistically significant difference between the VTE and non-VTE groups (0 [0.0%] versus 2 [18.2%]; P = 0.497).

Conclusions: The prevalence of VTE is high in hospitalized patients with severe high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). Prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism may be protective in severe HAPE patients after admission. Our data seem to suggest that VTE is probably an additional prognostic factors in patients with severe HAPE.

Keywords: Clinical characteristics; High altitude pulmonary edema; High altitudes; Thromboprophylaxis; Venous thromboembolism.