Abstract
In 318 patients (155 men, 163 women) with an average age of 58.8 years (range 16–97
years), a retrospective study was carried out to determine the incidence of occult
malignancies in patients with deep venous thrombosis affecting the pelvis and lower
limb, confirmed by phlebography or duplex ultrasonography. It was found that, overall,
7.5% of all patients had occult malignant diseases, the most common being bronchial
carcinoma (16%), colonic and renal carcinomas (12% each), and prostatic and pancreatic
carcinoma (8% each). Of the patients with occult malignancy, 88% were older than 55
years. This fact shows that acute phlebothromboses may be a paraneoplastic early syndrome
more often than was previously thought, and that patients older than 50 should always
be screened for the presence of a tumor.
