Efficacy and safety of long-term anticoagulation therapy with warfarin in elderly patients with pulmonary thromboembolism / 中国医师进修杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of long-term anticoagulation therapy with warfarin in elderly patients with pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) and the maintenance dosage of warfarin,and provide evidence for anticoagulation therapy. Methods Twenty elderly patients ( ≥65 years old) with PTE whose anticoagulation therapy duration exceeded 12 months were included into this study. The hemorrhage event, recurrence event and the maintenance dosage of warfarin in each patient were determined by the follow-up record. Results Six male patients and 14 female patients [(73.55 ± 5.76) years old] were diagnosed as PTE by CT pulmonary arteriography(CTPA). The average duration of follow-up was (22.60 ± 11.45 ) months. No fatal hemorrhage event such as cerebral hemorrhage was found during the course of long term anticoagulation therapy, and mild hemorrhage was found in 5 patients, including 1 patient with gingiva hemorrhage, 1 patient with epistaxis, 1 patient with hemoptysis, 1 patient with ecchymosis in the left leg and 1 patient with conjunctiva hemorrhage. PTE recurrence emerged in 1 patient and the recurrence rate was 5%.No change was found in the maintenance dosage of warfarin during the course of long-term anticoagulation therapy and the average dosage of warfarin was about 3.5 mg with sufficient anticoagulation therapy.Conclusions Long-term anticoagulation therapy with warfarin in elderly patients with PTE is safe and efficacious. The maintenance dosage of warfarin is about 3.5 mg, and detecting the international normalized ratio regularly is necessary.