Predictors of intracranial hemorrhage in patients treated with catheter-directed thrombolysis for deep vein thrombosis

Background: Although acute intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is a rare complication of catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT), it remains a major concern associated with the use of CDT. The incidence and clinical predictors of developing ICH in the setting of CDT are not known. Methods: The National Inpatient Sample database was used to identify all patients with proximal lower extremity or caval deep vein thrombosis (DVT) from January 2005 to December 2013 in the United States. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the clinical predictors of ICH between patients with DVT who had received anticoagulation therapy alone and those who had been treated with CDT plus anticoagulation therapy. Results: Of 138,049 patients with proximal lower extremity or caval DVT, 7119 (5.2%) had received anticoagulation therapy and CDT. Of the patients treated with anticoagulation alone, ICH had occurred in 0.2% compared with 0.7% for those treated with CDT (P <.01). The independent predictors of ICH in the CDT cohort were a history of stroke (odds ratio [OR], 19.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 8.8-42.8; P <.01), chronic kidney disease (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.1-4.7; P =.03), age >74 years (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2-4.3; P =.02), male sex (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.01-3.3; P =.048). Of those patients treated with anticoagulation alone, the risk factors for the development of ICH were a history of stroke, hospital teaching status, and age >74 years. Conclusions: The results from the present nationwide observational study showed that of patients with DVT treated with CDT, the independent predictors for developing ICH were a history of stroke, chronic kidney disease, male sex, and age >74 years.