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European registry seeks ‘detailed insight’ into characteristics, management of VTE
The PREFER in VTE registry, a multicenter study being conducted in seven European countries, will provide further understanding of patients with venous thromboembolism, including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, in a real-life setting, with a focus on the prevention of adverse events, according to researchers.
“VTE is a major health problem, with over 1 million events every year in Europe,” the researchers wrote. “However, there is a paucity of data on the current management in real life, including factors influencing treatment pathways, patient satisfaction, quality of life and utilization of health care resources and the corresponding costs. The PREFER in VTE registry has been designed to address this and to understand medical care and needs as well as potential gaps for improvement.”
A report on the data collected at 1 year that was published in Thrombosis Journal by Giancarlo Agnelli, MD, of the University of Perugia in Italy, and colleagues included 3,545 patients from 381 centers. Eligible patients were aged at least 18 years and had symptomatic first-time or recurrent VTE, defined as a distal or proximal deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism or both.
The PREFER in VTE registry is a prospective, observational, multicenter study being conducted in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom to evaluate the features and treatment of patients with VTE, consumption of health care and to generate data to approximate costs for 12 months of treatment after a first-time or recurrent VTE identified in hospitals, specialized centers or primary care centers. Current use of anticoagulant therapy, patient pathways, clinical outcomes, treatment satisfaction and health-related quality of life also were examined. Study locations were chosen to reflect the setting in which patients with VTE are managed in each of the participating countries.
Baseline visits occurred at the time of the acute VTE occurrence. Follow-up data were collected at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months through routine appointments or phone calls. The researchers did not report clinical outcomes for patients in this initial analysis.
“The PREFER in VTE registry will help to get a detailed insight into the characteristics and management of patients with VTE (DVT and/or [pulmonary embolism]) with focus on prevention of events (bleeding, recurrence of DVT, recurrence of [pulmonary embolism], post-thrombotic syndrome, CV events, other complications and death) in a real-life setting.” – by Julia Ernst, MS
Disclosure: Agnelli reports research support and/or honoraria for lectures from a number of pharmaceutical companies, including Daiichi Sankyo. The registry was sponsored by Daiichi Sankyo. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.