Low Risk of Recurrent Thrombotic Events After COVID-19-Linked VTE

TUESDAY, May 23, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with COVID-19-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE) have low risk of recurrent thrombotic events, and the risk is similar to that seen in patients with VTE provoked by hospitalization for other acute medical illness, according to a study published online April 26 in Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

Walter Ageno, M.D., from the University of Insubria in Varese, Italy, and colleagues conducted a study involving a prospective cohort of 278 COVID-19 patients with VTE enrolled between 2020 and 2021 and a comparison cohort of 300 non-COVID-19 patients with VTE associated with hospitalization for other acute medical illnesses. Patients were followed for a minimum of 12 months after discontinuation of treatment.

The researchers found that compared with controls, patients with VTE secondary to COVID-19 more often had pulmonary embolism without deep vein thrombosis (83.1 versus 46.2 percent) and had a lower prevalence of chronic inflammatory disease (1.4 versus 16.3 percent) and VTE history (5.0 versus 19.0 percent). The two groups had a similar median duration of anticoagulant treatment (194 and 225 days) and proportion of patients who discontinued anticoagulation (78.0 and 75.0 percent). The rates of thrombotic events after discontinuation did not differ between the groups (1.5 and 2.6 per 100 patient-years).

"The low number of events seen in our study after discontinuation of therapy suggests that anticoagulant treatment for a limited period of three to six months is generally adequate for the majority of patients with COVID-19-associated venous thromboembolism," Ageno said in a statement.

Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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