Oral Anticoagulants

Abstract

We read with great interest, the article by Hirsh et al 1. Hirsh J. Dalen J.E. Deykin D. Poller L. Oral anticoagulants: mechanisms of action, clinical effectiveness, and optimal therapeutic range. Chest. 1992; 102: 26S-312S PubMed Google Scholar published in the October, 1992 supplement to Chest. Their article is a useful review of oral anticoagulants and the new recommendations for anticoagulant therapy. We wish to bring your attention to some apparent confusion regarding the new standards for therapeutic ranges of oral anticoagulants. We believe the confusion resulted from the information in Tables 2 and 4. Although the text of the article discusses the standards for recommended therapeutic ranges for oral anticoagulant therapy as they appear in Table 2, at least one other publication has printed recommendations based on the information in Table 4. 2. Karpman H.L. INR—the new standard for monitoring oral anticoagulant therapy. Intern Med Alert. 1992; (Dec 15): 178-179 Google Scholar The differences between Tables 2 and 4 are in the international normalized ratio ranges for prevention of recurrent myocardial infarction and reduction of mortality post myocardial infarction.