On the hematology front –
Last weekend at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), researchers presented data on a new kind of blood thinner. Rivaroxaban (Xarelto) is a pill that works by blocking the activated form of human clotting factor X (Xa). The NEJM published the EINSTEIN* findings on-line ahead of print, coincident with the presentation.
The research includes two reported trials. In the first, an open-label randomized study of 3449 patients with acute deep venous thrombosis (DVT), subjects received either rivaroxaban pills or a standard treatment regimen starting with an injected blood thinner (enoxaparin) followed by an oral Vitamin K antagonist, like coumadin. The main findings in this Acute DVT Study was that the new drug, rivaroxaban, is as good (“non-inferior”) in terms of preventing recurrent clot as is the older regimen and bears a similar safety profile.
The second, parallel EINSTEIN-extension trial involved randomization of 1197 patients after
See more Notes On a New Kind of Anticoagulant
