Patients benefit from improved clotting drugs

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Patients benefit from improved clotting drugs

By Suzanne Rostler

NEW YORK, Jun 20 (Reuters Health) - Newer versions of the anti-clotting drug

heparin can improve treatment of individuals with blood vessel disease,

according to the American Heart Association (AHA).

Low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) should be used in patients with acute

heart symptoms such as heart disease-related chest pain, according to new

guidelines on heparin published in the June 19th issue of Circulation:

Journal of the American Heart Association.

The newer preparations can be given by injection into muscles, rather than

intravenously, allowing patients to leave the hospital sooner and administer

the drugs at home. Also, levels of the newer drugs do not fluctuate in the

blood so doctors do not have to take frequent blood samples from patients,

Dr. Valentin Fuster, former president of the AHA and director of the

Cardiovascular Institute at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York

City, told Reuters Health.

" It is certainly as good, if not better, than (older preparations of)

heparin, " Fuster said.

He added that clinical studies are underway to investigate whether LMWH is

effective for patients suffering a heart attack.

LMWH molecules are about a third of the size of regular heparin molecules.

Heparin has been used for years to break apart clots that can lodge inside

blood vessels and block blood flow. This condition, known as venous

thromboembolism, is responsible for about 300,000 hospitalizations in the US

each year.

While LMWH preparations have been found to be as effective as older

versions, they are more expensive, Fuster and colleagues note. However,

avoiding IVs spares patients from hospitalization and cuts costs.

The guidelines also note that patients who take aspirin may need lower doses

of heparin, since full doses of the drug can increase the risk of bleeding

in these patients.

The new guidelines update the last set of recommendations published in 1994.

SOURCE: Circulation 2001;103:2995-3019.