Risk factors, treatment outcomes and predictors of death of newly diagnosed patients with venous thromboembolism in a quaternary hospital in Ghana

Objective: To determine the sociodemographic characteristics, risk factors, treatment outcomes and predictors of death of newly diagnosed patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE). Design: A retrospective study Settings: University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) Ltd, a 650-bed quaternary hospital located in Accra, Ghana. Participants: One hundred and eighty-six adult patients admitted with a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (PE), confirmed by Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA), from January 2022 to April 2024, were included in this study. All patients with a differential diagnosis of DVT or PE for whom confirmation by Doppler USG and CTPA could not be obtained were excluded. Main outcome measure: Risk factors, treatment outcomes and predictors of death of patients diagnosed with venous thromboembolism Results: The mean age of study participants was 62.7 years (±15.5), and a slightly higher proportion were female (n=108, 58.1%). The mortality rate was 16.3%. Close to half of the patients (n=88, 47.3%) had a history of immobilisation as the predominant risk factor for VTE. On multivariate analysis, increasing age (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00-1.08), increasing urea level (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03 – 1.21) and presence of cancer (OR 6.02, 95% CI 0.003) remained significant predictors of mortality. Conclusion: Immobilisation was the main risk factor for VTE in this study. In-hospital mortality was relatively high, with death in 1 in 6 patients diagnosed. Patients with advanced age, high urea and malignancy should be monitored closely and early aggressive treatment instituted to reduce mortality.