Rivaroxaban for the treatment of venous thromboembolism. A “real-life” perspective in 103 patients

Abstract

IntroductionRandomized clinical trials have demonstrated non-inferiority of rivaroxaban compared with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in the treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Our objective was to analyze in real life, tolerance, recurrence, bleeding and adverse events of rivaroxaban in patients with acute symptomatic VTE. Material and MethodsOpen follow-up study of a cohort of patients aged 18 and over diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and/or pulmonary embolism (PE) treated with rivaroxaban from December 2011 to January 2014. ResultsThe total number of patients treated with rivaroxaban was 103. The mean age was 58+/-17years. The most frequent co-morbidities were: hypertension (30.0%), dyslipidemia (23.3%) and respiratory disease (25.2%). The type of thromboembolic event treated was: DVT (64.1%), PE (18.4%), DVT+PE (17.5%). Of the rivaroxaban-treated patients, 30% did so from the initial anticoagulant therapy and the other 70% in long-term or extended anticoagulant therapy. The median time of treatment with rivaroxaban was 5months. There was one recurrence and no deaths occurred. Six patients had bleeding, one of which was severe. ConclusionsRivaroxaban provides a therapeutic alternative in a group of patients with VTE with advantages over VKAs, because of the convenience in dosing, lack of requirements for periodic monitoring and limited interaction with other drugs.