Compared with nonpregnant women, pregnancy carries a four- to fivefold higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Despite increasing use of heparin prophylaxis in identified high-risk patients, pulmonary embolism still is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the western world. However, evidence on optimal use of thromboprophylaxis is scarce. Thrombophilia, the hereditary or acquired tendency to develop VTE, is also thought to be associated with complications in pregnancy, such as recurrent miscarriage and preeclampsia. In this review, the current evidence on optimal thromboprophylaxis in pregnancy is discussed, focusing primarily on VTE prevention strategies but also discussing the potential to prevent recurrent pregnancy complications with heparin in pregnant women with thrombophilia.
The effectiveness and safety of venous thromboembolism (VTE) treatment with apixaban, demonstrated in phase III trials, need to be confirmed in daily care.Using data from the prospective, noninterventional cross-indication Dresden NOAC Registry we evaluated rates of VTE recurrence and bleeding complications during apixaban treatment of VTE patients. For this analysis, we only included patients with acute VTE who started apixaban within 14 days after diagnosis and who were enrolled within these 14 days. Patient characteristics, treatment persistence, and clinical outcomes were assessed.Between August 1st, 2014 and October 31, 2018, 352 patients with apixaban treatment for acute VTE were enrolled. During treatment (median exposure 13.7 ± 9.8 months; median follow-up 21.7 ± 6.1 months) rates of recurrent VTE and International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis major bleeding were 1.3/100 pt.years (95% confidence interval or CI 0.4–3.0) and 1.5/100 pt.years (0.6–3.3), respectively. At 6 months. 68.6% of patients were still taking apixaban, 23.9% had a scheduled end of treatment, 6.3% were switched to other anticoagulants, and the remaining 2.3% had unplanned complete discontinuation of anticoagulation.Of the 188 patients stopping apixaban, 12 (6.4%) experienced a recurrent VTE (six pulmonary embolisms ± deep vein thrombosis, six deep vein thrombosis; mean time between stopping anticoagulation and VTE recurrence 5.2 ± 4.1 months [range 14–417 days]).Our findings suggest that, in daily care, apixaban demonstrated high effectiveness, safety, and persistence in the treatment of acute VTE with low rates of unplanned discontinuation.
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