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Experience With Discontinuation of Long-Term Anticoagulant Therapy

Robert B. Van Cleve, MD

JAMA. 1966;196(13):1156-1158.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

LONG-TERM anticoagulant therapy has been used for many years in conditions such as myocardial infarction in which there is a risk of thromboembolism. Several reports have questioned the usefulness of anticoagulants in preventing a recurrence of myocardial infarction.^1-5 Other studies have cast some doubt on the necessity of continuing such treatment for longer than a year following the infarction.^6-8

There is also considerable controversy regarding the recurrence of thromboembolic episodes following discontinuation of long-term anticoagulant therapy. Our experience with abrupt discontinuation of long-term anticoagulant therapy has been published elsewhere.⁹ This paper concerns 149 patients whose long-term therapy with sodium warfarin (Coumadin Sodium) was discontinued and compares them to those whose anticoagulant therapy was continued in an effort to see if all patients should be maintained on this therapy indefinitely.

Description of the Study

A total of 191 patients who had been receiving sodium warfarin for an average . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Medicine, San Diego (Calif) Naval Hospital and the Riverside Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to 2005 Riverside Ave, Jacksonville, Fla 32204 (Dr. Van Cleve).

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