Tuesday, July 12, 2011

What's the appropriate cancer work up for patients presenting with unprovoked VTE?

A recently published evidence based review concluded:

Based on the available studies, we recommend that clinicians maintain a low threshold of suspicion for malignancy in patients who present with an unprovoked VTE. Moreover, patients with unprovoked VTE should provide a thorough medical history, undergo a physical examination, chest X-ray, and routine laboratory tests (including complete blood count, basic chemistries, liver function, and lactate dehydrogenase), and be up to date with age- and gender-specific cancer screening (Grade 1C). Additional diagnostic testing should be guided by any abnormal findings gleaned from the initial clinical or laboratory data.


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