Prevalence of Asymptomatic Venous Thromboembolism in Depressive Inpatients

Masahiro Takeshima,1 Hiroyasu Ishikawa,1 Yoshiaki Umeta,2 Mizuki Kudoh,3 Akise Umakoshi,1 Kazuhisa Yoshizawa,4 Yu Ito,1 Tomoko Hosoya,1 Ko Tsutsui,1 Hidenobu Ohta,1 Kazuo Mishima1 1Department of Neuropsychiatry, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita 010-8543, Japan; 2Department of Psychiatry, Omagari City Hospital, Akita 014-0067, Japan; 3Department of Neuropsychiatry, Nakadori Rehabilitation Hospital, Akita 010-0001, Japan; 4Department of Psychiatry, Akita City Hospital, Akita 010-0933, JapanCorrespondence: Masahiro TakeshimaDepartment of Neuropsychiatry, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-1, Hondo, Akita 010-8543, JapanTel +81-18-884-6122Fax +81-18-884-6445Email m.takeshima@med.akita-u.ac.jpPurpose: While depression has been recognized as a risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE), the prevalence of VTE in depressed inpatients has never been investigated. The aim of this study was thus to examine VTE prevalence and factors associated with VTE in depressed inpatients.Patients and Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of consecutive depressed inpatients (n = 94) from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, at the psychiatry department of Akita University Hospital. As part of our clinical routine, depressed inpatients were screened for VTE using D-dimer, and patients who screened positive underwent enhanced CT to examine VTE. A variety of data was extracted from medical records, including, amongst others, age, sex, body mass index, diagnoses of psychiatric disorders, total scores on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, duration of current depressive episode, daily dosages of antidepressants and antipsychotics, catatonia, and physical restraint.Results: VTE was detected in 8.5% of depressed inpatients. There were no significant differences between VTE-positive and VTE-negative inpatients regarding any of the considered factors.Conclusion: Our analysis shows a VTE prevalence of 8.5% in depressed inpatients, higher than that of 2.3% reported in a previous study in hospitalized patients with psychiatric disorders including depression. This emphasizes the importance of VTE screening for depressive inpatients.Keywords: antidepressant, bipolar disorder, depression, sudden death, venous thrombosis