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Preventing blood clots from coming back


March 1, 2019

Dr. Marc CarrierDr. Marc Carrier

Hundreds of thousands of people in Canada and the U.S. take blood thinners every day to prevent dangerous blood clots from coming back after an initial clot (called a venous thromboembolism). But multiple blood thinners are available and very few studies have compared them head-to-head. So Dr. Marc Carrier and his colleagues pooled data from more than 22,000 patients from 16 clinical trials around the world to come up with the best evidence possible. Their systematic review and network meta-analysis shows that warfarin and newer anti-clotting pills known as NOACs are both more effective than aspirin, but more data is needed to compare warfarin with NOACs. This research will guide doctors and patients around the world while they wait for results of a massive clinical trial (co-led by Dr. Lana Castellucci) that is comparing warfarin and anti-clotting pills head-to-head.  See Heart for details.

Authors: Wang KL, van Es N, Cameron C, Castellucci LA, Büller HR, Carrier M

Funding: No specific funding was provided. Research at The Ottawa Hospital is possible because of generous donations to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

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Scientific Program tags: Inflammation and Chronic Disease Program