A Clearinghouse for Information about Blood Clots (DVT/)PE) and Clotting Disorders (thrombophilia) provided as a public service by the University of North Carolina Blood Research Center

Author: Clot Connect

  • Warfarin therapy made easier

    Background and Summary Patients on warfarin can test their own INR (International Normalized Ratio) at home with small, handheld INR monitors, similar to diabetics checking their own blood sugar. A very large, well conducted study published on Oct 21, 2010 in the New England Journal of Medicine (ref 1) shows that patients can safely and…

  • Pradaxa approval – Great news!

    Summary The new oral “blood thinner” Pradaxa® (=Dabigatran) was approved by the FDA on October 20th, 2010 (ref 1 and 2). This is huge news! This is the first oral blood thinner alternative to warfarin (=Coumadin®, Jantoven®). At this point, Pradaxa® is only FDA approved for use in patients with irregular heart beat (= atrial…