Preventive strategies for hypercoagulation in Cushing's syndrome: when and how.

purposeThe endogenous hypercortisolism that characterizes Cushing's syndrome (CS) is associated with a state of hypercoagulability that significantly increases the risk of thromboembolic disease, especially, venous events. Despite this certainty, there is no consensus on the best thromboprophylaxis strategy (TPS) for these patients. Our aim was to summarize the published data about different thromboprophylaxis strategies, and to review available clinical tools assisting thromboprophylaxis decision making.

methodsNarrative review of thromboprophylaxis strategies in patients with Cushing's syndrome. A search was carried out on PubMed, Scopus and EBSCO until November 14th, 2022, and articles were selected based on their relevance and excluded in case of redundant content.

resultsLiterature is scarce regarding thromboprophylaxis strategies to be adopted in the context of endogenous hypercortisolism, most often being a case-by-case decision according to the centre expertise. Only three retrospective studies, with a small number of patients enrolled, evaluated the use of hypocoagulation for the thromboprophylaxis of patients with CS in the post-operative period of transsphenoidal surgery and/or adrenalectomy, but all of them with favourable results. The use of low molecular weight heparin is the most frequent option as TPS in CS context. There are numerous venous thromboembolism risk assessment scores validated for different medical purposes, but just one specifically developed for CS, that must be validated to ensure solid recommendations in this context. The use of preoperative medical therapy is not routinely recommended to decrease the risk of postoperative venous thromboembolic events. The peak of venous thromboembolic events occurs in the first three months post-surgery.

conclusionThe need to hypocoagulate CS patients, mainly in the post-operative period of a transsphenoidal surgery or an adrenalectomy, is undoubtable, especially in patients with an elevated risk of venous thromboembolic events, but the precise duration and the hypocoagulation regimen to institute is yet to be determined with prospective studies.