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CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS, INTERVENTIONS, AND THERAPEUTIC TRIALS
From the Thrombosis Research Institute, Chelsea,
London, United Kingdom; Haemostasis and Thrombosis Research
Laboratories, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois;
Knoll AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany; and International Institute of
Thrombosis and Vascular Diseases, Frankfurt, Germany.
Low-molecular-weight and unfractionated heparins are frequently
used to treat venous thromboembolism, but it is not known whether they
are equally effective in inhibiting in vivo generation of thrombin. In
this multicenter trial, 1048 patients were randomized to intravenous
unfractionated heparin (group A), twice daily low-molecular-weight heparin (reviparin) for 1 week (group B), or once daily
reviparin for 4 weeks (group C). All patients received vitamin K
antagonists. Blood samples withdrawn at the baseline and at weeks 1 and
3 were analyzed using markers of in vivo thrombin generation and other coagulation parameters. During the first 3 weeks symptomatic recurrent deep vein thrombosis-pulmonary embolism (DVT/PE) occurred in 17 (4.5%) of 375 patients in group A compared with 4 (1.0%) of 388 patients in group B, and 9 (2.4%) of 374 patients in group C. Forty
percent of patients in group A, 53.4% in group B, and 53.5% in group
C showed 30% or greater reduction in thrombus size assessed by
venography. Patients in group B had significantly greater reduction in
D-dimer, prothrombin fragments 1 and 2 (F1 + 2), endogenous thrombin
potential (ETP), and thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complexes compared to
groups A and C. Greater release of tissue factor pathway inhibitor
(TFPI) and reduction in levels of thrombin activatable fibrinolysis
inhibitor (TAFI) and fibrinogen were significantly more pronounced in
group C patients. Reviparin administered twice daily plus vitamin K
antagonist is more effective in inhibiting in vivo thrombin generation
compared to intravenous unfractionated heparin plus vitamin K
antagonist, and reviparin once daily produced significantly higher TFPI
release and greater reduction in TAFI and fibrinogen levels. This article has been cited by other articles:
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| Copyright © 2002 by American Society of Hematology Online ISSN: 1528-0020 | |||||||||