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An Aspirin a Day to Keep the Clots Away: Can Aspirin Prevent Recurrent Thrombosis in Extended Treatment for VTE?
Circulation. 2014 Aug 25;
Authors: Wakefield TW, Obi A, Henke PK
Abstract
Patients presenting with DVT in the absence of any identifiable risk factors are said to have an unprovoked or idiopathic DVT. Recurrent events are much more common in these patients (10% vs. ≤ 3% at 1 year) compared to patients with a DVT provoked by a reversible risk factor, and represents a major healthcare problem.(1) Three months of anticoagulation is sufficient to decrease the risk of recurrent thrombosis related to the initial DVT. However, once therapy is discontinued, the risk for recurrence rises dramatically. It has been suggested that 30 to 50% of patients experience a recurrence at 10 years.(2, 3) Factors associated with a higher likelihood of recurrence are male gender, elevated D dimer, incomplete resolution of DVT, body mass index ≥ 30, and post-thrombotic syndrome.(4) In fact, a number of tools have been developed to determine the risk of recurrence after DVT.
PMID: 25156993 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]