Patients with Provoked Venous Thromboembolism Plus Other Risk Factors: Extend Anticoagulation?

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) often is classified as provoked or unprovoked; anticoagulation usually is short-term (e.g., 3–6 months) for provoked cases and longer-term or indefinite for unprovoked cases. But some patients with VTE have transient provoking factors plus enduring risk factors for recurrence.

To determine whether extended anticoagulation is beneficial in this latter group, researchers conducted an industry-funded trial that involved 600 adults with provoked VTE (e.g., related to surgery, trauma, or acute medical illness) and at least one enduring risk factor such as obesity, chronic lung or cardiovascular disease, or chronic inflammatory disease (e.g., inflammatory arthritis, vasculitis, inflammatory bowel disease, or chronic in…