Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Hematology, J&J-Janssen, Thromboembolism / 04.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paul Burton MD, PhD, FACC Vice President, Medical Affairs Internal Medicine Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Despite being largely preventable, venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the second leading cause of death in people with cancer. The risk of VTE is five times greater in people with cancer than those without cancer, and that risk is magnified in those receiving certain types of chemotherapy, in the newly diagnosed and in those with more advanced, metastatic disease. This 6,194-patient study examined economic burden associated with VTE, and found patients newly diagnosed with cancer who are at a higher risk of a VTE had significantly higher all-cause and VTE-related health care costs compared to patients with a lower risk of VTE. (more…)
Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, Hematology, J&J-Janssen / 04.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paul Burton MD, PhD, FACC Vice President, Medical Affairs Internal Medicine Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is complicated among morbidly obese patients. Current guidelines do not recommend use of Factor Xa inhibitors in these patients due to limited clinical data available. That's why Janssen undertook this study to examine XARELTO® (rivaroxaban) in these patients. In this 5,780-patient retrospective study, results found patients treated with XARELTO® had a similar risk of recurrent VTE and major bleeding compared to those taking warfarin. However, treatment with XARELTO® was associated with less all-cause health care resource utilization (HCRU) (e.g., inpatient hospitalizations and outpatient visits) and reduced total medical costs compared to warfarin. Of note, patients taking XARELTO® had an average $2,829 lower total medical costs per patient per year (PPPY) than those taking warfarin, which was mainly driven by lower hospitalization costs. (more…)
Author Interviews, NEJM, Orthopedics, Surgical Research, Thromboembolism / 06.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Suzanne C. Cannegieter, M.D., Ph.D. Einthoven Laboratory Leiden University Medical Center The Netherlands MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Patients who undergo arthroscopic knee surgery and patients who are treated with casting of the lower leg are at increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). It is uncertain whether thromboprophylaxis is effective in these situations to prevent VTE. For both indications, several trials have been performed to evaluate the effectiveness of anticoagulant prophylaxis. However, an overall risk–benefit balance could not be established because of methodologic shortcomings; hence, there has been reluctance to establish international guidelines regarding the use of anticoagulant therapy for either of these indications. (more…)
Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, Heart Disease, JACC, Thromboembolism / 27.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Truven Health AnalyticsJay Margolis, PharmD Sr. Research Scientist Truven Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), most commonly warfarin, had been the only orally available anticoagulants available for the last 60 or so years. While highly effective, use of these agents was often problematic due to their narrow therapeutic index, need for routine coagulation monitoring, and interactions with food and other drugs. Recently introduced new oral anticoagulants (NOACs), particularly rivaroxaban, had been shown in clinical trials to provide comparable efficacy to the VKAs without the need for routine coagulation monitoring. There have been few studies outside of clinical trials showing benefits that translate to real-world populations. In our study using real-world data from a large sample of geographically and demographically diverse US hospitals, patients hospitalized for incident venous thromboembolisms (VTE) initiating oral anticoagulant treatment with rivaroxaban had significantly shorter hospital stays and lower hospitalization costs compared with warfarin-treated patients. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, JAMA, Surgical Research, Thromboembolism / 03.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Charles A. Karcutskie IV, MD, MA Postdoctoral Research Fellow University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Department of Surgery Divisions of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, and Burns MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Our research group at the Ryder Trauma Center have recently done several studies showing various differences in outcomes and risk based on mechanism of injury. Additionally, venous thromboembolism (VTE) is another topic that our group has focused on in the past several years. Because trauma patients are inherently at a higher risk for VTE due to the nature of their injury, we questioned whether the most important risk factors for VTE were different after blunt or penetrating trauma. At our institution, we assess VTE risk with the Greenfield Risk Assessment Profile, which is a list of several risk factors that each have weight toward an overall risk score. We took these risk factors and analyzed them individually based on mechanism of injury. We found that the factors that contribute to the VTE risk are different based on injury mechanism: After blunt trauma, transfusion status, neurologic status, and pelvic fracture contributed most. After penetrating trauma, vascular injury, severe abdominal injury, and age 40-59 years contributed most. This tells us that mechanism of injury may need to be incorporated into the risk assessment in order to discover the highest risk patients. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, Outcomes & Safety, Surgical Research / 27.07.2015

Riyaz Bashir MD, FACC, RVTProfessor of Medicine Director, Vascular and Endovascular Medicine Department of Medicine Division of Cardiovascular Diseases Temple University Hospital Philadelphia, PA 19140MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Riyaz Bashir MD, FACC, RVT Professor of Medicine Director, Vascular and Endovascular Medicine Department of Medicine Division of Cardiovascular Diseases Temple University Hospital Philadelphia, PA 19140 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Bashir: Catheter-based thrombus removal also known as Catheter Directed Thrombolysis (CDT) is a minimally invasive therapeutic intervention that has evolved over the past two decades to reduce the incidence of post thrombotic syndrome (PTS), a very frequent and disabling complication of proximal deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Catheter-based thrombus removal has been shown to reduce this lifestyle limiting complication of DVT and as a result we have observed a significant increase in the utilization rates of CDT across United States. Recent nationwide observational data suggests that higher adverse events such as intracranial hemorrhage rates and need for blood transfusions are seen with CDT use. Nonetheless specific reasons for these findings have not been explored prior to this study. Thread veins, also known as spider veins, are small veins which can appear on your face, thighs or calves and are an issue that many patients want help with. However, they are a cosmetic issue rather than a medical problem. People who suffer from the spider veins often feel that they affect their appearance and confidence and question why do we get thread veins? Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Bashir: This study showed a significant inverse relationship between the institutional Catheter-based thrombus removal volumes and safety outcomes like death and intracranial hemorrhage. The institutions with higher volume of CDT cases annually (greater than or equal to 6 cases) were associated with lower in-hospital mortality rates and lower intracranial hemorrhage rates as compared to institutions, which performed less than 6 cases annually. This study also showed that at high volume institutions there was no difference in terms of death or intracranial bleeding rates between CDT plus anticoagulation versus anticoagulation alone. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, OBGYNE, Pharmacology, Thromboembolism / 27.05.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yana Vinogradova, Research Fellow Division of Primary Care School of Medicine University of Nottingham Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Combined oral contraceptives are an effective method of birth control but do have measurable side effects.  One – common to all combined contraceptives and sometimes fatal – is an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE).  A number of earlier studies investigated VTE risks for different types of hormonal contraceptives, but all were performed some years ago or had insufficient data to analyse newer preparations, while some included only healthy users and others did not adequately control for lifestyle and health issues.  The data used for this study were representative of the UK population and covered all currently prescribed drugs, with results adjusted for the widest possible range of available relevant factors. We found that the venous thromboembolism risks of combined oral contraceptives appear to fall into two distinct groups.  Newer drugs containing gestodene, desogestrel, drospirenone or cyproterone were associated with risks of VTE between 1.5 and 1.8 times higher than both the older compositions containing norethisterone or levonorgestrel and the relatively newer norgestimate.  While our findings are statistical associations between different compositions and venous thromboembolism risks, they do represent more comprehensive and reliable information for doctors making evidence-based prescribing decisions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Lancet, Thromboembolism / 08.10.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof Martin H Prins MD Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Prins: Patients with active cancer, i.e. a cancer that was diagnosed or treated within 6 months before the episode, that was recurrent or metastatic, or that was diagnosed during treatment, who had a symptomatic episode of venous thromboembolism, were included in this pooled subgroup analysis of the Einstein DVT and PE studies. The incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolism was similar between groups. It occurred in 16 (5%) of 354 patients allocated to rivaroxaban and 20 (7%) of 301 patients allocated to enoxaparin and vitamin K antagonist (hazard ratio [HR] 0•67, 95% CI 0•35 to 1•30). Clinically relevant bleeding was also similar and occurred in 48 (14%) of 353 patients receiving rivaroxaban and in 49 (16%) of 298 patients receiving standard therapy (HR 0•80, 95% CI 0•54 to1•20). However, major bleeding was less frequent among rivaroxaban recipients and occurred in eight (2%) of 353 patients receiving rivaroxaban and in 15 (5%) of 298 patients receiving standard therapy (HR 0•42, 95% CI 0•18 to 0•99). Mortality was also similar. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Thromboembolism / 17.09.2014

Dr. Marc Carrier, MD MSc Scientist, Clinical Epidemiology, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Physician, Hematology (Thrombosis), The Ottawa Hospital Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, and Research Chair in Venous Thromboembolism and Cancer (Tier 2) at the University of OttawaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Marc Carrier, MD MSc Scientist, Clinical Epidemiology, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Physician, Hematology, The Ottawa Hospital Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, and Research Chair in Venous Thromboembolism and Cancer (Tier 2) at the University of Ottawa MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Carrier: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprised of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death. There are many anticoagulant treatments available but there is little guidance about which treatment is most effective and safe. This systematic review and network meta-analysis evaluated eight different treatment options for acute Venous thromboembolism.  Forty-five trials were included in the analysis and there were no significant differences in clinical or safety outcomes associated with most treatment options when compared to the combination of LMWH-VKA.. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Thromboembolism / 09.07.2014

Kirstine Kobberøe Søgaard, MD Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, DenmarkMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kirstine Kobberøe Søgaard, MD Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Response: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is mainly considered an acute illness with a high mortality right after the event, whereas knowledge on the impact on long-term survival has been sparse. In our study, we used nationwide data on VTE since 1977, and included 128,223 patients with VTE and 640,760 individuals from the general population without a VTE diagnosis. We had complete follow-up data on individual patient level and were able to link information from other hospital admissions and thereby obtain each patient’s entire hospital history, as well as death statistics with specific cause of death. We confirmed the high mortality immediately after the thromboembolic event, but more interestingly, we found that mortality remained increased during the entire follow-up period of 30 years, with venous thromboembolism as an important cause of death among patients with deep venous thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism. (more…)
OBGYNE, Thromboembolism / 24.07.2013

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sheree Boulet, DrPH, MPH Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance and Research Team Women's Health and Fertility Branch Division of Reproductive Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Boulet: Between 1994-2009, the rate of pregnancy-related hospitalizations with venous thromboembolism (VTE) increased by 14%. We also found that the prevalence of hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease increased over the same time period for pregnancy hospitalizations with VTE. (more…)