Title:Use of New Oral Anticoagulants in the Treatment of Venous Thromboembolism and Thrombotic Prophylaxis
Volume: 15
Issue: 2
Author(s): Muharrem Akin, Andreas Schäfer, Ibrahim Akin, Julian Widder and Michael Brehm
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Coumadin, deep vein thrombosis, NOAC, thrombembolism, thrombotic prophylaxsis, warfarin.
Abstract: Thrombo-embolism of the venous system consisting of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and
pulmonary embolism (PE) is common and associated with high morbidity and mortality.
Symptomatic venous thrombembolism (VTE) manifests in about 1/3 of cases as PE and 2/3 as DVT.
There is a strongly compound between early mortality after venous VTE and PE, age, malignancies
and cardiovascular diseases. Anticoagulation therapy is the main therapeutic approach for the
treatment of acute VTE and to prevent recurrent VTE events. For decade’s classic anticoagulants like
heparin, low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs), fondaparinux, and vitamin K antagonists have
been the gold standards in therapy and are widely used. Novel oral anticoagulants (NOAC) like the direct thrombin
inhibitor (dabigatran etexilate) and the direct factor Xa inhibitors (e.g. rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban) have been
introduced to overcome the drawbacks of vitamin K antagonists. The efficacy and safety of these NOAC have been
investigated in several randomized trials. Here we want to give an overview about the NOACS in the treatment of acute
and chronic VTE and their use for primary prevention of acute VTE.
