Incident report.

Did you know 5% of cancer patients will have a pulmonary embolism (PE) seen on routine staging scans? Here’s a prospective observational study on how these patients with incidental PE fare. Among nearly 700 patients included, almost all (97%) were placed on anticoagulant therapy, by and large with heparin. At one year, recurrent venous thromboemboli occurred in 6% regardless of initial PE location. But what was the major bleeding risk you ask? 6%. TBL: Patients with cancer and incidentally-discovered PE carry a high-risk of recurrent emboli even on anticoagulation, and they should be closely monitored for both clotting and bleeding risk. | Kraaijpoel, J Clin Oncol 2019