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Warfarin Therapy Research Paper

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There has been much debate between physicians about the need for heparin or a low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) use when initiating warfarin therapy for anticoagulation. The use of heparin or a LMWH when initiating warfarin therapy has been justified by a theoretical possibility of a transient hypercoaguable state from the warfarin use. Many physicians believe that the only safe and effective way to start a patient on warfarin is with the use of one of these heparins, however, the hypercoaguable state is just a theoretical possibility. Also, heparin bridging must be done in a hospital where the levels can be monitored, while a LMWH can be done at home, but is usually relatively expensive and requires the patient to give themselves injections. …show more content…

According to Zeuthen, Lassen, and Husted (2003), the theoretical possibility of a transient hypercoaguable state “emerges from a decline in plasma levels of protein C and S, at a time when factors X and II levels are still high due to a longer half life, [which] may lead to a transient hypercoaguable state within the first 12 to 60 hours” of warfarin initiation. In this study, 40 patients who had atrial fibrillation lasting longer than 48 hours were enrolled, and were randomized to receive either warfarin or a LMWH as antithrombotic treatment. Patients with ulcer disease, a gastrointestinal bleed within the past five weeks, uncontrolled hypertension, pregnancy, thrombocytopenia, renal insufficiency, or blood coagulation disorders were excluded (Zeuthen et al., 2003). The study specified that two patients dropped out voluntarily, 21 patients received LMWH and 17 patients received warfarin with a goal international normalized ratio (INR) in the range of 2.0 to 3.0. According to Zeuthen et al. (2003), the method of measuring the possibility of a hypercoaguable state involved assessing markers that reflected the protein and factor activity during the initiation of warfarin and the initiation of a LMWH. The patients in the study were randomly treated with warfarin or LMWH, as discussed previously, for three consecutive days, and biochemical markers were measured at …show more content…

Azoulay, Dell’Aniello, Simon, Renoux, and Suissa (2013) performed a post-hoc nested-control analysis using the United Kingdom’s clinical practice research datalink database of 70,766 patients aged 18 years and older, who were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation between 1993 and 2008. Patients with less than one year of medical history in the database, as well as patients with a history of mitral or aortic valve repair or replacement, or patients with a history of hyperthyroidism were excluded from the study. By using conditional logistic regression, Azoulay et al. (2013) was able to determine that there was a 71% increase of stroke during the first 30 days of warfarin treatment, with a decreased risk after the first 30 days. Azoulay et al. (2013) goes on to conclude that warfarin-naïve patients (patients who have never taken warfarin previously) with atrial fibrillation might have a greater increased risk for thrombotic events during the first 30 days of warfarin initiation. Therefore, the study concluded that the increased clotting risk may be due to a warfarin induced hypercoaguable state, or it may be due to the extended time interval it takes for a therapeutic INR to be achieved by inexperienced warfarin

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