Assessment of clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of pediatric patients with intracardiac thrombosis: a single-center experience

The prevalence of intracardiac thrombus (ICT) is gradually increasing, though it is rare among children. Data related to the occurrence of ICT among children are limited, and treatment recommendations have been made utilizing adult guidelines. The primary objective of this study is to determine associated factors, management, and outcomes of intracardiac thrombosis in children. Between January 2013 and January 2020, patients diagnosed with ICT at the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Pediatric Cardiology departments in our hospital were included in the study. Demographic characteristics, clinical and laboratory findings, treatment protocols, and outcomes were analyzed retrospectively. The median age at diagnosis was 10.5 months (2 days to 14.5 years), and the median follow-up period was 6.5 months (1 month to 3.1 years). The most common primary diagnoses of the patients, in order of frequency, were heart disease (n: 8), metabolic disease (n: 3), prematurity and RDS (n: 3), burns (n: 2), pneumonia (n: 2), and asphyxia (n: 2). CVC was present in 19/23 of the patients. The reasons for CVC insertion were the need for plasmapheresis in one patient with a diagnosis of HUS and the need for well tolerated vascular access because of long-term hospitalization in others. LMWH was administered to all patients as first-line therapy. Complete response was achieved in 19 (79%) of 24 patients and 4 patients (16.6%) were unresponsive to medical treatment. It was found out that the thrombus location, type, sepsis, and hemoculture positivity, as well as the presence of CVC, had no impact on treatment response (chi-square P = 0.16, 0.12, 0.3, 0.49, 0.56). Moreover, no correlation was determined between thrombus size and treatment response (Mann Whitney U test P = 0.47). The mortality rate was determined to be 12.5% (3/24). Spontaneous occurrence of ICT is rare in childhood, without any underlying primary disease or associated factor. The presence of CVC, sepsis, and heart disease are factors associated with ICT. The success rate is increased with medical treatment. There was no significant difference in treatment response between the newborn and 1 month to 18-year-old patient group. It has been demonstrated that thrombus size, type, localization; sepsis, and hemoculture positivity had no impact on the treatment response.