AsianScientist (Nov. 12, 2012) – Low-dose aspirin may prevent potentially deadly blood clots in the leg or the lungs in patients who have had a previous blood clot, according to a clinical study conducted at the University of Sydney.
The study, published this week in The New England Journal of Medicine, has found that people who have suffered blood clots in the veins of the leg (deep vein thrombosis or DVT) or the lungs (pulmonary embolism or PE) are less likely to suffer a recurrence of the serious blood clots or a cardiac event if they take low-dose aspirin.
“The results of this study suggest the simple, inexpensive treatment of low-dose aspirin could prevent thousands of patients from experiencing recurrent clots each year and may make substantial healthcare savings in Australia and worldwide,” said study chair Professor John Simes.
Simes is the Director of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Clinical Trials Center at the University of Sydney.
“These results suggest that aspirin prevents about one third of recurrent blood clot events. For every 1000 patients treated for one year, aspirin can be expected to prevent about 20 to 30 episodes of recurrent major thrombotic events at the cost of about three significant bleeding episodes,” he added.
Since 2003, the ASPIRE study has recruited a total of 822 participants from five countries including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, and Argentina. All the participants had previously suffered a DVT or PE that occurred for no particular reason, called ‘unprovoked VTE’ (venous thromboembolism).
They had completed on average six months of anti-coagulant treatment, generally with warfarin. They were randomly allocated to receive either low dose enteric coated aspirin or a matching placebo. On average participants were followed for three years.
“Many patients discontinue warfarin therapy after six or twelve months of treatment due to the inconvenience of regular blood tests and the increased risks of serious bleeding [putting them at high risk of recurring thrombosis],” said principal investigator Dr. Tim Brighton from the Prince of Wales Hospital.
“Aspirin reduces the risk of important blood clotting event including recurrent VTE, myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular death. We now have clear evidence that aspirin is of benefit for patients who are unable or do not wish to continue warfarin in the long term.”
Results from the ASPIRE study are consistent with the findings of an Italian study, called WARFASA, that was published in the NEJM earlier this year.
The article can be found at: Brighton TA et al. (2012) Low-Dose Aspirin for Preventing Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism.
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Source: University of Sydney.
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