Study Suggests New Potential Drug Treatment for Unprovoked VTE

Rivaroxaban may reduce the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) more effectively than warfarin, according to the results of a new study.

The propensity-matched cohort study used data from linked nationwide Danish health registries and identified 1734 patients who received rivaroxaban and 2945 patients who received warfarin after a first hospital diagnosis of unprovoked VTE. Recurrent VTE and major bleeding were the primary effectiveness outcome and primary safety outcome, respectively.
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At 6 months, the rate of recurrent VTE was 9.9 incidents per 100 person-years in patients taking rivaroxaban verses 13.1 incidents per 100 person-years in patients taking warfarin (hazard ratio 0.74).

In addition, the rate of major bleeding at 6 months was 2.4 per 100 person-years for patients taking rivaroxaban verses 2.0 per 100 person-years taking warfarin (hazard ratio 1.19).

“In this clinical practice setting, rivaroxaban in patients with unprovoked VTE was associated with reduced risk of recurrent VTE compared with standard treatment, without compromising safety,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Larsen TB, Skjøth F, Kjældgaard JN, Lip GYH, Nielsen PB, and Søgaard M. Effectiveness and safety of rivaroxaban and warfarin in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism: a propensity-matched nationwide cohort study [published online April 11, 2017]. Lancet Haematol. dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3026(17)30054-6.