Home treatment of deep venous thrombosis with low molecular weight heparin: Long-term incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolism

Outpatient treatment of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) with low molecular wei ght heparin (LMWH) seems as safe and effective as inpatient treatment with unfractionated heparin (UFH). However, most of the randomized trials compar ing a LMWH with UFH described clinical outcomes within 3-6 months. The long -term incidence of recurrent VTE after treatment of DVT with LMWH remains t o be established. The primary objective of this retrospective study was to document the long-term incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with DVT treated with a LMWH, nadroparin in an outpatient basis . The patients were evaluated 46 months after inclusion in two cohorts comp aring home treatment with nadroparin (n = 130) with in-hospital treatment w ith intravenous UFH (n = 149). More than 60% of the patients in the nadropa rin group could be treated at home, either entirely or after a short stay i n hospital. The age-adjusted thrombosis-free survival was not statistically significant between nadroparin and UFH-treated patients (P = 0.084). There was a nonsignificant trend favoring nadroparin as compared with UFH. The h azard ratio (HR) for recurrent VTE in the nadroparin group with respect to the UFH group was 0.44 (95% confidence interval, 0.17-1.12). No significant differences were observed in overall mortality or major hemorrhage between the two treatment groups. Our study suggests that home treatment of DVT wi th LMWH is at least as effective and safe as in-hospital UFH after a long-t erm follow-up period. Am. J. Hematol, 67:10-14, 2001. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.