Length of treatment for VTE

Length of treatment for VTE

How long should we treat patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE)? VTE includes deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Current guidelines recommend 3-6 months of anticoagulation for unprovoked VTE — usually low-molecular weight heparin followed by warfarin. A new study suggests that an additional year of the factor Xa inhibitor apixaban (recently approved for stroke prevention in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, see page 1) may be beneficial for these patients. In an industry-sponsored study, patients with VTE who had completed 6-12 months of anticoagulation therapy were randomized to an additional 12 months of apixaban (2.5 or 5 mg twice a day) or placebo. Nearly 2500 patients were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. Recurrent VTE or death from VTE occurred in 73 of 829 patients randomized to placebo (8.8%) compared to 14 of 840 patients on 2.5 mg of apixaban (1.7%) and 14 of 813 patients on 5 mg of apixaban (1.7%; P < 0.001 for both comparisons). The rates of major bleeding were 0.5% in the placebo group and 0.2% and 0.1% in the apixaban 2.5 mg and 5 mg groups, respectively. The rate of death from any cause was 1.7% in the placebo group and 0.8% and 0.5% in the apixaban 2.5 mg and 5 mg groups, respectively. The authors conclude that extended anticoagulation with apixaban at either a treatment dose (5 mg bid) or thromboprophylactic doses (2.5 mg bid) reduced the risk of recurrent VTE without increasing the rate of major bleeding (N Engl J Med published online Dec. 8, 2012. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1207541). In this study, the majority of patients were younger than age 75 without other comorbities such as low body weight or renal impairment. It is also unknown if the results of this study are applicable to other approved anticoagulants such as rivaroxaban.