Patients prescribed extended anticoagulation for VTE have a lower risk of recurrent VTE with NOACs compared to warfarin, according to a study in JAMA Network Open.

Dr Margaret Fang, from the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues in the US compared the rates of recurrent VTE, hospitalisations for haemorrhage, and all-cause death among adults prescribed NOACs or warfarin beyond six months after acute VTE during 2010 to 2018.

Data were included for 18,495 patients with VTE: 11.5% and 88.5% received NOAC therapy and warfarin therapy, respectively.

The researchers found that for patients receiving NOACs versus warfarin, unadjusted event rates were lower for recurrent VTE (2.92 vs 4.14 events per 100 person-years), hospitalisations for haemorrhage (1.02 vs 1.81), and all-cause death (3.79 vs 5.40).