ACC.17: Rivaroxaban more effective in preventing VTE recurrence than aspirin, EINSTEIN CHOICE study shows
New research looking at the efficacy of rivaroxaban, an oral blood-thinning medication compared to aspirin yielded positive results for the complex drug, showing that it can limit the recurrence of a venous thromboembolism (VTE) without increasing the risk for bleeding.
The study was led by Philip Wells, the chief of the department of medicine at the University of Ottawa and Ottawa Hospital in Canada. His research, titled EINSTEIN CHOICE, was a randomized, double blind and event driven study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. He presented it at the American College of Cardiology’s 66th Annual Scientific Session on March 18.
His study is also the first to compare the safety and effectiveness of rivaroxaban and aspirin in patients at risk for a recurrent VTE and was funded by Germany-based Bayer AG.
The multicenter study included more than 3,300 patients who had completed six to 12 months of anticoagulant therapy for a VTE. The average age of patients was 59 and 55 percent of them were men. They were also diverse. About 77 percent of them were Caucasian, 14 percent were Asian and 4 percent were black.
They were then randomly assigned to receive 10 mg or 20 mg of rivaroxaban or 100 mg of aspirin once daily for up to a year.
Results showed that those who were prescribed rivaroxaban had less incidents of VTE recurrence compared to those who were taking aspirin.
“We have shown that practitioners can safely prescribe rivaroxaban for patients at risk for a recurrent VTE without being concerned that doing so will increase risk for bleeding side effects,” Wells said. “Rivaroxaban had significantly greater efficacy in preventing VTE recurrence without significantly increasing risk for major bleeding. Our findings show that it’s [a safe option] and appears to be highly protective against potentially life-threatening recurrent VTE.”
In a follow up discussion, Jackson Wright, MD, PhD, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said he wanted to see more information on ethnic demographics in future studies because VTE recurrence is more common in black patients. Wells agreed.
Senior Writer
As a Senior Writer for TriMed Media Group, Katherine primarily focuses on producing news stories, Q&As and features for Cardiovascular Business. She reports on several facets of the cardiology industry, including emerging technology, new clinical trials and findings, and quality initiatives among providers. She is based out of TriMed's Chicago office and holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has appeared in Modern Healthcare, Crain's Chicago Business and The Detroit News. She joined TriMed in 2016.