Thirty-day outcomes in patients with proximal deep vein thrombosis who discontinued anticoagulant therapy prematurely

Incidence of Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism in a Population-Based Cohort

The incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) changes over time from the first VTE event and depends on the presence of risk factors. In this study, we aimed to determine the yearly incidence of VTE recurrence during five years of follow-up after a first-ever VTE event. For this cohort study, we identified persons who experienced a validated first-ever VTE between 2006-2014 in northern Sweden. These patients' medical records were reviewed to identify recurrent VTE events during five years of follow-up. The yearly incidence rates (IRs) of recurrent VTE per 100 person-years were calculated and stratified into three groups defined by characteristics at the first-ever VTE event: no risk factors, cancer, or other risk factors. A total of 1413 persons experienced a first-ever VTE during the study period, of whom 213 experienced a recurrent VTE. Among persons without risk factors, the IR was 4.2 during the first year of follow-up, and 4.1 during the fifth year. Among persons with cancer, the IR was 9.5 during the first year, and 5.4 during the fifth year. Among persons with other risk factors, the corresponding IRs were 6.1 and 2.3. In conclusion, after a first-ever VTE event, persons with cancer had the highest recurrence rate during the first years of follow-up. Among persons with cancer who were alive after five years, the incidence of recurrent VTE during the fifth year was similar to that in participants without risk factors.

Prevention, Diagnostics and Treatment of Deep Vein Thrombosis. Russian Experts Consensus

The guidelines are developed in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation by the all-Russian public organization «Association of Phlebologists of Russia» with participation of the Association of Cardiovascular Surgeons of Russia, the Russian Society of Surgeons, the Russian Society of Angiologists and Vascular Surgeons, the Association of Traumatologists and Orthopedists of Russia, the Association of Oncologists of Russia, the Russian Society of Clinical Oncology, Russian Society of Oncohematologists, Russian Society of Cardiology, Russian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Machine learning to predict major bleeding during anticoagulation for venous thromboembolism: possibilities and limitations

Predictive tools for major bleeding (MB) using machine learning (ML) might be advantageous over traditional methods. We used data from the Registro Informatizado de Enfermedad TromboEmbólica (RIETE) to develop ML algorithms to identify patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) at increased risk of MB during the first 3 months of anticoagulation. A total of 55 baseline variables were used as predictors. New data prospectively collected from the RIETE were used for further validation. The RIETE and VTE-BLEED scores were used for comparisons. External validation was performed with the COMMAND-VTE database. Learning was carried out with data from 49 587 patients, of whom 873 (1.8%) had MB. The best performing ML method was XGBoost. In the prospective validation cohort the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and F1 score were: 33.2%, 93%, 10%, and 15.4% respectively. F1 value for the RIETE and VTE-BLEED scores were 8.6% and 6.4% respectively. In the external validation cohort the metrics were 10.3%, 87.6%, 3.5% and 5.2% respectively. In that cohort, the F1 value for the RIETE score was 17.3% and for the VTE-BLEED score 9.75%. The performance of the XGBoost algorithm was better than that from the RIETE and VTE-BLEED scores only in the prospective validation cohort, but not in the external validation cohort.

Prediction of Major Bleeding in Anticoagulated Patients for Venous Thromboembolism: Comparison of the RIETE and the VTE-BLEED Scores

The performance of validated bleeding risk scores in patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) could be different depending on the time after index event or the site of bleeding. In this study we compared the "classic" Registro Informatizado de Enfermedad TromboEmbólica (RIETE) score and the more recently developed VTE-BLEED score for the prediction of major bleeding in patients under anticoagulant therapy in different time intervals after VTE diagnosis. Out of 82,239 patients with acute VTE, the proportion of high-risk patients according to the RIETE and VTE-BLEED scores was 7.1 and 62.3%, respectively. The performance of both scores across the different study periods (first 30 days after VTE diagnosis, days 31-90, days 91-180, and days 181-360) was similar, with areas under the receiving operating characteristics (ROC) curve (AUC) ranging between 0.69 and 0.72. However, the positive predictive values were low, ranging between 0.6 and 3.9 (better for early major bleeding than for later periods). A sensitivity analysis limited to patients with unprovoked VTE showed comparable results. Both scores showed a trend toward a better prediction of extracranial than intracranial major bleeding, the RIETE score resulting more useful for early extracranial bleeding and the VTE-BLEED for late intracranial hemorrhages. Our study reveals that the usefulness of available bleeding scores may vary depending on the characteristics of the patient population and the time frame evaluated. Dynamic scores could be more useful for this purpose.

Treatment and Secondary Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism in Real Clinical Practice Based on Health Care Professional Survey

Aim. To assess the duration of the anticoagulant treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in various categories of patients in real clinical practice through survey of practitioners, as well as correspondence of the duration with current clinical guidelines.

Material and methods. Data obtained from electronic survey of practicing surgeons as part of a commercial brand assessment (Brand Adoption Monitor) was studied. Survey was carried out by the "Validata” analytical agency at the request and with the financial support of Bayer. Inpatient and outpatient vascular surgeons, as well as general outpatient surgeons were invited to complete the electronic questionnaire. The number of interviewed specialists was 100: 50 inpatient vascular surgeons and 50 outpatient specialists, among whom the share of vascular surgeons (phlebologists, angi-ologists) was about 20%. The study was completed in 20 cities of Russia with a population of at least 200,000 people from all federal districts except the North Caucasus and the Republic of Crimea. The selection criteria for participants were: work experience in the specialty ≥3 years, work experience at the current organization >6 months, ≥5 patients with VTE during in the last month.

Results. In total, 104 doctors were surveyed during the period from December 11, 2019 to January 20, 2020, of which 50 were inpatient vascular surgeons and 54 were from outpatient setting. According to the survey of vascular surgeons in hospitals, 75% (6 [5;10]) of patients were hospitalized with a primary episode of VTE and 25% (2 [1;4]) with a recurrent thrombotic event. In an outpatient surgeon, 27.5% (3 [2;5]) of patients were treated in an outpatient setting without hospitalization, 34.7% (3 [2;5]) came to an appointment immediately after discharge from the hospital and 38.8% (2 [1;4]) were a repeat visit regarding a previous VTE. Most often, surgeons observed episodes of clinically unprovoked VTE in 27.3% of cases, thrombotic events provoked by major transient risk factors were 12.2%, event provoked by small transient risk factors were 13.3% and events provoked by small persistent risk factors were 12.6%, while cancer-associated thrombosis represented 13.5%. Most surgeons chose to prescribe anticoagulant therapy beyond 3 months. About half of the specialists prescribed therapy for a year or longer for cancer-associated thrombosis and recurrent VTE. When treating the first episode of clinically unprovoked VTE, about half of the respondents chose anticoagulation for a period of 3 to 6 months. About 60% of specialists prescribed anticoagulant therapy for a period of 3 to 6 months to patients with minor transient or persistent risk factors and patients with VTE provoked by major transient risk factor (trauma or surgery).

Conclusion. Correspondence of the duration of anticoagulant therapy in real clinical practice with the international clinical guidelines varies within 450% range and, on average, does not exceed 30%. This discrepancy was both in situations when the duration of therapy was lower than recommended, but also in situations when treatment extension would not have been recommended.

Patients Taking Direct Oral Anticoagulants (DOAC) Undergoing Oral Surgery: A Review of the Literature and a Proposal of a Peri-Operative Management Protocol

Patients on anticoagulant therapy for the prevention of cardiovascular accidents present an increased risk of bleeding following dental and oral surgery. Four recently introduced non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants, namely dabigatran etexilate (direct thrombin inhibitor), rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban (Xa factor direct inhibitor), are widely spreading for convenience of use compared to the older drug class. Dental management of patients taking these drugs has substantial differences compared to patients on vitamin K antagonist therapy. Anticoagulation is not assessed directly through a hematological test, but indirectly by renal function. The interventions must be scheduled at the time of minimum blood concentration of the drug. Bleeding can occur even after several days following the surgery. The interaction with drugs administered for dental care must be carefully evaluated. The peri-operative diet can influence the risk of bleeding. Local measures favoring coagulation must be adopted. The interventions with higher risk must be divided into multiple less invasive interventions. Although antidotes exist for these drugs, their use does not seem necessary for dental interventions that have been planned optimally. Furthermore, in this review of the literature a decision protocol is proposed for the evaluation of the suspension of the anticoagulant drug before oral surgery. Cessation of any anticoagulant should only be made in consultation with the patient’s general practitioner/cardiologist, who will weigh up the risk of bleeding from the proposed procedure with the risk of thrombosis/stroke in each individual patient.