Efficacy and safety of edoxaban in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: protocol for a multicentre, randomised, warfarin-controlled, parallel group trial - KABUKI trial

When Direct Oral Anticoagulants Should Not Be Standard Treatment: JACC State-of-the-Art Review

For most patients, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are preferred over vitamin K antagonists for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation and for venous thromboembolism treatment. However, randomized controlled trials suggest that DOACs may not be as efficacious or as safe as the current standard of care in conditions such as mechanical heart valves, thrombotic antiphospholipid syndrome, and atrial fibrillation associated with rheumatic heart disease. DOACs do not provide a net benefit in conditions such as embolic stroke of undetermined source. Their efficacy is uncertain for conditions such as left ventricular thrombus, catheter-associated deep vein thrombosis, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, and for patients with atrial fibrillation or venous thrombosis who have end-stage renal disease. This paper provides an evidence-based review of randomized controlled trials on DOACs, detailing when they have demonstrated efficacy and safety, when DOACs should not be the standard of care, where their safety and efficacy are uncertain, and areas requiring further research.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and the post-pulmonary embolism (PE) syndrome

Over a third of patients surviving acute pulmonary embolism (PE) will experience long-term cardiopulmonary limitations. Persistent thrombi, impaired gas exchange, and altered hemodynamics account for aspects of the postpulmonary embolism syndrome that spans mild functional limitations to debilitating chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), the most worrisome long-term consequence. Though pulmonary endarterectomy is potentially curative for the latter, less is understood surrounding chronic thromboembolic disease (CTED) and post-PE dyspnea. Advances in pulmonary vasodilator therapies and growing expertise in balloon pulmonary angioplasty provide options for a large group of patients ineligible for surgery, or those with persistent postoperative pulmonary hypertension. In this clinical review, we discuss epidemiology and pathophysiology as well as advances in diagnostics and therapeutics surrounding the spectrum of disease that may follow months after acute PE.