Six Additional Weeks of Rivaroxaban Reduces Recurrent VTE

HealthDay News — For patients with isolated distal deep venous thrombosis (DVT), 6 additional weeks of rivaroxaban after an initial 6-week course of treatment reduces the risk for recurrent venous thromboembolism, according to a study published online November 23 in The BMJ.

Walter Ageno, MD, from the University of Insubria in Italy, and colleagues compared two different treatment durations of rivaroxaban in 402 adults with symptomatic isolated distal DVT in a randomized trial. Participants received standard-dose rivaroxaban for 6 weeks and were then randomly assigned to rivaroxaban 20mg or placebo once daily for 6 weeks (200 and 202 patients, respectively). Patients were followed up for 24 months from study inclusion.

In 40 and 43% of patients in the additional rivaroxaban and placebo groups, respectively, isolated distal DVT was unprovoked. The researchers found that the primary efficacy outcome of recurrent venous thromboembolism during follow-up occurred in 11 and 19% of patients in the rivaroxaban and placebo arms, respectively (relative risk, 0.59). Recurrent isolated distal DVT occurred in 8 and 15% of patients in the rivaroxaban and placebo arms, respectively. Proximal DVT or pulmonary embolism occurred in 3 and 4% of patients, respectively. There were no major bleeding events reported.

“This benefit was mainly driven by recurrent isolated distal DVT, maintained during the 24-month follow-up, and was consistent among patient subgroups,” the authors write.

The study was partially funded by Bayer Italy. Two authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Bayer.

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