European journal of internal medicine
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Jul 2017
Review Meta AnalysisScreening for occult cancer in idiopathic venous thromboembolism - Systemic review and meta-analysis.
Idiopathic venous thromboembolism (VTE) may be associated with an occult malignancy. Early detection of cancer might be translated to a better prognosis for these patients. However, the efficacy of extensive screening for cancer in patients with idiopathic VTE is controversial. ⋯ Extensive screening for malignancy after idiopathic VTE does not affect mortality rates. Yet, it yields more cancer diagnoses shortly after the VTE event. Further research is needed to determine whether extensive screening might be proper for specific high risk populations.