Effectiveness of antiplatelet thromboprophylaxis in myeloma patients using immunomodulators in Kurdistan region-Iraq

Objective: To evaluate the effect of antiplatelet in preventing thrombosis in multiple myeloma patients treated by immunomodulatory drugs. Methods:The study was conducted on one hundred seventy-six patients treated in the hematology unit in three centers in the Kurdistan region of Iraq from February 2014 to July 2019, of them, one hundred two males and seventy-four females.Demographic data were obtained from the patient's file, including the type of immunomodulatory drugs, type of antiplatelet, thrombotic events and their site, presence of other comorbidities, and the time onset between diagnosis and beginning of the thrombotic events.Results: Regardless of the type of therapy in the study sample, 11.1% who were taking antiplatelet therapy developed a thrombotic attack compared with 46.9% who were not receiving the anti-platelets treatment.The incidence of the thrombotic attack among those myeloma patients who used immunomodulatory drugs was 9.6% who were on antiplatelet drugs, which is significantly lower than the rate (52%) among patients not taking the antiplatelet drugs.Conclusions: As multiple myeloma is a malignant disease and treatment with immunomodulatory drugs associated with increased risk of thrombosis, the antiplatelet medicine is a useful measure when used as a prophylaxis for preventing thrombosis.