warfarin and Mediastinal-Neoplasms

We encounter patients with mediastinal tumors invading the left innominate vein (LIV), and there is no evidence confirming whether the LIV should simply be ligated or reconstructed. The need for postoperative anticoagulant therapy after ligation of LIV is also controversial.. 3209 patients with thoracic malignant tumors underwent surgical resection between 1994 and 2014 in our institute. Nineteen (0.6%) patients had mediastinal malignant tumors invading the LIV and underwent LIV resection. Of these patients, only 3 underwent reconstruction of LIV. We did not start anticoagulant therapy routinely after resection of LIV. The patients were divided into 2 groups: group A showed at least 50% patency of LIV by preoperative contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and group B showed less than 50%. We investigated the safety of resecting LIV and the need for postoperative anticoagulant therapy.. The 30-day and 90-day mortalities were zero in both groups. Thrombosis of the LIV stump and increased edema in the left neck and upper limb were observed in 2 (10.5%) patients only in group A. After initiating the anticoagulant therapy, the embolisms disappeared and weaning the patients off warfarin could be done in less than 1 year.. In this study, there was no case of mortality or severe morbidity among the patients with LIV resection. Moreover, there was no need to initiate routine anticoagulant therapy after the LIV division as the frequency of embolism in the LIV stump was low and was expected to disappear prior to starting anticoagulant therapy.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anesthesia; Anticoagulants; Brachiocephalic Veins; Female; Humans; Ligation; Male; Mediastinal Neoplasms; Middle Aged; Postoperative Complications; Postoperative Period; Prosthesis Implantation; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Thoracic Surgery; Thoracic Surgical Procedures; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Vascular Neoplasms; Warfarin

The anticoagulant warfarin can produce a skin necrosis that is clinically indistinguishable from the skin necrosis caused by purpura fulminans associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). The similar clinical and histologic findings observed in each of these skin necroses create a challenge for diagnosis and eventual treatment. The authors report a patient with significant risk factors for warfarin-induced skin necrosis, DIC, and HIT presenting with painful, purpuric patches beginning on her feet and extending proximally before becoming hemorrhagic bullae on her lower extremities.

Topics: Aged; Anticoagulants; Biopsy; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Diagnosis, Differential; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation; Fatal Outcome; Female; Humans; IgA Vasculitis; Lung Neoplasms; Mediastinal Neoplasms; Necrosis; Pulmonary Embolism; Warfarin

To report a case of a possible drug interaction between warfarin, carboplatin, and etoposide resulting in a marked increase in a patient's response to warfarin, and to outline monitoring strategies for this interaction.. A 74-year-old white man receiving warfarin (average dose 42.5 mg/wk) for atrial fibrillation was diagnosed with a right testicular non-seminoma mixed germ cell tumor. Mediastinal metastases were subsequently discovered, and the patient was treated with a chemotherapy regimen including carboplatin and etoposide. Sixteen days after the first course of chemotherapy, the international normalized ratio (INR) was increased to 12.6 from a baseline range of 1.15-2.11 that was observed over the previous 8 months of therapy, indicating a clinically significant alteration in the pharmacodynamic response to warfarin.. This patient had no concomitant disease or dietary changes to explain the altered response to warfarin. Carboplatin and etoposide have not been reported to inhibit warfarin metabolism. However, previous reports have suggested that etoposide may displace warfarin from its protein binding sites, resulting in an early elevation in prothrombin time following chemotherapy. The late elevation of INR observed in our patient suggests that his response to warfarin may have been due to the displacement of warfarin by elemental platinum, which has a long plasma half-life.. This case report suggests a possible drug interaction between carboplatin, etoposide, and warfarin. Because of the risk associated with an increased response to warfarin, we recommend close monitoring of the INR, perhaps twice weekly, early and later in the time course following chemotherapy with these agents. Appropriate dosage adjustments of warfarin should be performed if an altered response to warfarin is observed.

Topics: Aged; Anticoagulants; Antineoplastic Agents; Atrial Fibrillation; Carboplatin; Drug Interactions; Etoposide; Germinoma; Humans; Male; Mediastinal Neoplasms; Testicular Neoplasms; Warfarin