Predictive Factors of Deep Venous Thrombosis in Meningioma Patients: A Single-Institutional Series

Study Design: Retrospective study at a single academic institution.

Objective: Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a major cause of morbidity for postsurgical patients. The aim of this series is to identify independent predictors of DVT in patients who have had intracranial meningiomas resected.

Methods: Surgical records were retrospectively reviewed from 2008 to 2018 to identify patients diagnosed with an intracranial meningioma. 95 patients who were diagnosed and treated operatively were identified after exclusions for a lack of preoperative imaging, pathologic diagnosis, or a secondary resection. Chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and Student’s t-tests were performed to identify risk factors for postoperative DVT in univariate analysis. Independent variables with a p-value of less than 0.10 were included in a multiple logistic regression model controlled for age, gender, a history of anticoagulation, and postoperative chemical DVT prophylaxis.

Results: The mean age of our cohort was 59.8 years old (± 12.9) and 67 patients (70.5%) were women. 17.8% of patients received postoperative subcutaneous heparin for DVT prophylaxis, and 12.6% of all patients developed a DVT postoperatively. In univariate analysis, preoperative weakness (p = 0.032) and diabetes (p = 0.046) reached the p <  0.10 threshold and were included in a multivariate model. This determined that presentation with weakness (p = 0.020; OR: 6.9 [95% CI: 1.4–35.0]) and diabetes (p = 0.023; OR: 6.3 [95% CI: 1.3–31.2]) maintained statistical significance and were thus identified as independent risk factors for postoperative DVT.

Conclusion: Chemical DVT prophylaxis with subcutaneous heparin may not be necessary for patients who have had an intracranial meningioma resected without certain comorbidities and with good motor function. However, in patients who present with motor deficits or have diabetes, DVT prophylaxis should be strongly considered.

Keywords: meningioma, deep venous thrombosis, prophylaxis

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).