In a single-center retrospective analysis of 862 VTE patients, five clinical indicators correlated with catheter-related thrombosis subtype were identified, with combined D-dimer and catheter indwelling time demonstrating robust discriminative power (AUC = 0.82), and CVC placement associated with substantially higher 6-month VTE recurrence rates (28.4% vs. 9.7%).
In-hospital VTE incidence was 2.1%, concentrated among elderly, malignancy, and postoperative patients.
Catheter-related thrombosis (CRT) incidence was 10.2%, with the highest rates observed in patients with peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC).
Five clinical indicators were identified as correlated with CRT subtype among confirmed VTE patients.
The combination of D-dimer and catheter indwelling time demonstrated robust discriminative power for differentiating CRT from non-CRT VTE.
The 6-month VTE recurrence rate was substantially higher in the CVC group compared to the non-CVC group.
The authors concluded that further multicenter prospective research is necessary to validate identified indicators and develop standardized prevention protocols.
This research suggests that patients in hospitals who have central venous catheters (tubes inserted into large veins for medical treatment) face a significantly elevated risk of developing blood clots, and that certain measurable factors can help distinguish what type of clot a patient has developed. In a study of 862 hospitalized patients who had already been confirmed to have a venous blood clot, researchers found that about 10% had clots directly related to their catheters, with a specific type called peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) carrying the highest risk. Five factors were linked to catheter-related clots specifically: how long the catheter had been in place, whether the catheter was positioned incorrectly, elevated levels of a blood marker called D-dimer, a history of cancer, and a prior history of blood clots. When D-dimer levels and catheter duration were combined into a single assessment tool, researchers found it could distinguish catheter-related clots from other types of clots with reasonably good accuracy (measured as an AUC of 0.82, where 1.0 would be perfect). This research also suggests that patients with catheters who develop blood clots face a much higher risk of having those clots return within six months compared to patients without catheters (28.4% vs. 9.7%). This highlights a potentially important clinical challenge in managing blood clot patients who have or had catheters. However, the authors themselves caution that because this was a single-hospital, retrospective study looking backward at existing records, the findings should be considered preliminary. They call for larger studies conducted at multiple hospitals, following patients forward in time, before these indicators could be used to build formal prevention guidelines.
Yuan Y, Chen J, Li Y. (2026). Epidemiological Characteristics of Venous Thromboembolism and Associated Indicators for Catheter-Related Thrombosis Subtypes.. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE. https://doi.org/10.3791/72591