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Original Article
Volume 334:677-681 March 14, 1996 Number 11
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A Comparison of Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin Administered Primarily at Home with Unfractionated Heparin Administered in the Hospital for Proximal Deep-Vein Thrombosis
Mark Levine, M.D., Michael Gent, D.Sc., Jack Hirsh, M.D., Jacques Leclerc, M.D., David Anderson, M.D., Jeffrey Weitz, M.D., Jeffrey Ginsberg, M.D., Alexander G. Turpie, M.D., Christine Demers, M.D., Michael Kovacs, M.D., William Geerts, M.D., Jeanine Kassis, M.D., Louis Desjardins, M.D., Jean Cusson, M.D., Moira Cruickshank, M.D., Peter Powers, M.D., William Brien, M.D., Susan Haley, B.Sc., and Andrew Willan, Ph.D.

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ABSTRACT

Background Patients with acute proximal deep-vein thrombosis are usually treated first in the hospital with intravenous standard (unfractionated) heparin. However, the longer plasma half-life, better bioavailability after subcutaneous administration, and more predictable anticoagulant response of low-molecular-weight heparins make them attractive for possible home use. We compared these two approaches.

Methods Patients with acute proximal deep-vein thrombosis were randomly assigned to receive either intravenous standard heparin in the hospital (253 patients) or low-molecular-weight heparin (1 mg of enoxaparin per kilogram of body weight subcutaneously twice daily) administered primarily at home (247 patients). The study design allowed outpatients taking low-molecular-weight heparin to go home immediately and hospitalized patients taking low-molecular-weight heparin to be discharged early. All the patients received warfarin starting on the second day.

Results Thirteen of the 247 patients receiving low-molecular-weight heparin (5.3 percent) had recurrent thromboembolism, as compared with 17 of the 253 patients receiving standard heparin (6.7 percent; P = 0.57; absolute difference, 1.4 percentage points; 95 percent confidence interval, -3.0 to 5.7). Five patients receiving low-molecular-weight heparin had major bleeding, as compared with three patients receiving standard heparin. After randomization, the patients who received low-molecular-weight heparin spent a mean of 1.1 days in the hospital, as compared with 6.5 days for the standard-heparin group; 120 patients in the low-molecular-weight–heparin group did not need to be hospitalized at all.

Conclusions Low-molecular-weight heparin can be used safely and effectively to treat patients with proximal deep-vein thrombosis at home.


Source Information

From McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. (M.L., M.G., J.H., J.W., J.G., A.G.T., P.P., A.W.); Hamilton Civic Hospitals Research Centre, Hamilton, Ont. (M.L., M.G., J.H., S.H., A.W.); Ontario Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation, Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre, Hamilton, Ont. (M.L.); McGill University, Montreal (J.L.); Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. (D.A.); Laval University, Quebec, Que. (C.D., L.D.); the University of Western Ontario, London (M.K., M.C., W.B.); the University of Toronto, Toronto (W.G.); and the University of Montreal, Montreal (J.K., J.C.) — all in Canada.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Levine at the Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre, 699 Concession St., Hamilton, ON L8V 5C2, Canada.

Full Text of this Article


Related Letters:

Unfractionated versus Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin for Deep Venous Thrombosis
Strandness D. E., Penner J., Levine M., Hirsh J., Gent M., Koopman M. M.W., Büller H. R.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1996; 335:670-672, Aug 29, 1996. Correspondence

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