Thromb Haemostasis
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Clinical decision rule and D-dimer have lower clinical utility to exclude pulmonary embolism in cancer patients. Explanations and potential ameliorations.
Patients with malignancy frequently present with clinically suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). However, the safe and efficient combination of a clinical decision rule (CDR) and D-dimer test to rule out PE performs less well in patients with malignancy. We examined potential explanations and analysed whether elevating the D-dimer cut-off could improve the clinical utility. ⋯ The Wells CDR and D-dimer perform less well in patients with suspected PE if they have cancer. Individual variables in the Wells rule are less diagnostic in cancer patients than in non-cancer patients with suspected PE. A CDR combined with an age-dependent D-dimer cut-off shows a modest improvement of the strategy in cancer patients.
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Combined antiplatelet agents (cAPA), aspirin plus clopidogrel, increase the risk of bleeding. We hypothesised that recombinant activated FVIIa (rFVIIa), which normalises thrombin generation in platelet-rich plasma from patients treated with cAPA, could limit this bleeding risk. It was the objective of this study to investigate the efficacy and safety of rFVIIa compared to placebo, in a bleeding and thrombosis model in rabbits treated with aspirin and clopidogrel. ⋯ Secondary endpoints were thrombosis (CFR), prothrombin time, platelet aggregation, and thrombin generation. Non- parametric statistical tests were used (p<0.05). cAPA significantly increased HS blood loss, BT and suppressed CFR compared to Placebo1 (p<0.05). rFVIIa injection did not modify HS blood loss, BT or CFR rate in Placebo1 rabbits nor in cAPA animals. These effects were unaffected by either rFVIIa dose. rFVIIa accelerated thrombin generation but had no effect on platelet aggregation in citrated platelet-rich plasma. rFVIIa did not modify HS blood loss associated with cAPA in rabbits.