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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Several large bodies of research have come together to form a new set of guidelines to prevent dangerous and deadly blood clots.
During the 50th Annual Meeting if the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco, Calif., researchers unveiled several important research findings they hope will contribute to more effective prevention of dangerous blood clots.
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Blood clotting, or coagulation, is an important process that prevents excessive bleeding when a blood vessel is injured. Usually the body is able to dissolve a clot once the injury has healed, but when a clot does not dissolve naturally it can become very dangerous. Deep-vein thrombosis, a type of clot that typically forms in a major vein in the leg, and pulmonary embolism, which occurs when a blot clot detaches and finds its way into the lungs, are two dangerous blood clot conditions known as thromboembolism.
Among the research presented at the meeting was a study showing the preventative success of using antithrombotic medication to reduce the incidence of thromboembolic events in patients with cancer.
Another study presented showed six months of treatment with idrabiotaparinux -- a therapy that combines an anticoagulant with Factor Xa inhibitor which links traditional indraparinux to bioten -- is just as efficient as indraparinux with a trend toward less bleeding in patients with deep-vein thrombosis.
Other research presented outlined regiments of a drug called DU-176b in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Researchers concluded the drug could be a potential substitute for warfarin, a conventional blood-thinning agent used in such patients to prevent stroke.
The final study presented concluded that investigational rivaroxaban, an oral Factor Xa inhibitor, is more efficacious than a current standard of therapy, enoxaparin, for the prevention of venous thromboembolism following total knee replacement surgery without significantly increasing the risk of bleeding.
SOURCE: 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco, Calif., Dec. 6-9, 2008
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