Miscarriage blow, DVT hope at major conference

Monday December 7th, 2009

Three studies on drug treatments that combat blood clotting may change medical practice, a major conference was told yesterday.

One study challenges the idea that two common drugs might prevent miscarriages.

Experts said other pieces of research, reported to the American Society of Hematology in New Orleans, USA, offered improved treatments for blood clots in the veins.

The study on miscarriage was conducted in the Netherlands, involving some 364 women who had each previously lost several babies during pregnancy.

Researchers tested the benefits of combining aspirin and heparin with a view to preventing clots in the placenta.

Researcher Dr Stef Kaandorp, of the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, said: "The study clearly demonstrates that aspirin combined with heparin and aspirin alone do not prevent recurrent, unexplained miscarriages and that we should not needlessly put these women through the inconvenience and risks associated with these blood-thinning medications.

"These results are extremely important because they will likely change the way some women at high risk for another miscarriage have been treated."

A second study suggested that a drug called dabigatran etexilate is good as the standard treatment, warfarin, at treating venous thromboembolism.

The study conducted in Ontario, Canada, involved some 2,500 patients. Researchers said the newer drug has many fewer side-effects than warfarin.

A third study suggests the drug rivaroxaban may help as a long-term treatment to prevent clotting recurring in these patients. The study from Amsterdam involved nearly 1,200 patients and researchers said the drug seemed to be "safe and effective".

Professor Harry Buller, of Amsterdam's Academic Medical Center, said: "The results of this study are very compelling.

"For these patients in danger of having another VTE event, rivaroxaban lowered their risk by 82 percent without significantly increasing their risk of major bleeding. This once-daily pill provides the clinician with a simple option for patients in whom continued anticoagulant treatment is indicated."

For ASH, Professor Bradford Schwartz, of the University of Illinois, USA, said: "Anticoagulants are one of the most common types of medications in use today and help prevent and treat a wide variety of health conditions.

"That's why it's so critical that studies examining both newer formulations and old standbys, like aspirin, provide practitioners with the most up-to-date evidence to ensure that they are being used appropriately and that the best option is chosen for each individual patient."

* The conference also heard that the anti-cholesterol drugs, statins, may help improve the results of stem cell transplant procedures.

Researchers found that patients whose donors had been taking statins did not seem to suffer from the rejection condition, graft versus host disease. The findings came from a study of 567 patients at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.

About 15 per cent of the patients had donors who had been taking statins.

* Another study, reported to the conference, found that vitamin D - which is associated with exposure to sunshine - may help boost treatment for a condition called large B-cell lymphoma.

The study at the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minnesota, found that patients with inadequate levels of vitamin D faced a doubled risk of dying. Some 374 newly-diagnosed patients were tested and half had "deficient" levels of vitamin D.

Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | Europe | North America | Pharmaceuticals | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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