Abstract
Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of antiplatelet drugs in preventing thrombosis in multiple myeloma patients treated by immunomodulatory drugs Methods: The study includes a hundred seventy six patients of symptomatic multiple myeloma treated in hematology unit of three centers in Kurdistan region of Iraq from February 2014 to July 2019. Demographic data were obtained from patient’s file, including the type of immunomodulatory drugs, antiplatelet use, thrombotic events and their site, presence of other comorbidity, and whether the thrombosis was before or after the diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Background and objectives: Multiple myeloma is a malignant disease that affect both gender and associated with increased risk of thrombosis, one of the effective method of treating myeloma is through using immunomodulatory drugs especially when combined with high dose dexamethasone with in turn boost the risk of thrombosis, in this study we investigate the effect of antiplatelet in preventing thrombosis. Methods: This is a retrospective study that include 176 cases that are collected from cancer centers at Kurdistan region of Iraq from Feb/2014 to Jul/2019 information gathered through questionnaire. Results: Regardless the type of therapy in the study sample 11.1% who were taking anti-platelet therapy developed thrombotic attack compared with 46.9% who were not taking the anti-platelets therapy. The incidence of the thrombotic attack among those myeloma patients who used immunomodulatory drugs was 9.6% who were on anti-platelet drugs which is significantly lower than the rate (52%) among patients not taking the anti-platelet drugs. Conclusions: As multiple myeloma is a malignant disease and treatment with immunomodulatory drugs associated with increased risk of thrombosis, antiplatelet drug is an effective measure when used as a prophylaxis for preventing thrombosis. Keywords: Multiple myeloma, Thrombosis, Antiplatelet
