Reasons for and consequences of vitamin K antagonist discontinuation in very elderly patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Unlabelled: Essentials Anticoagulation in the elderly is still a challenge and suspension of warfarin is common. This is an observational study reporting reasons and consequences of warfarin suspension. Vascular disease, age, time in therapeutic range, and bleedings are associated with suspension.

Vitamin K antagonists' use and fracture risk: results from a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Although vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) lower serum values of bone deposition markers, the link with osteoporosis and fractures remains controversial.

Objectives: To assess whether the use of VKAs is associated with an increased prevalence and/or incidence of osteoporosis, fractures, or lower bone mineral density (BMD) values.

Methods: We conducted a systematic PubMed and EMBASE literature search until August 31, 2014, and a meta-analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies investigating fractures and BMD, comparing patients treated with VKAs and healthy controls (HCs) or with patients with medical illness (medical controls, MCs).

To treat or not to treat very elderly naïve patients with atrial fibrillation with vitamin K antagonists (VKA): results from the VENPAF cohort.

Despite the recommendations in the guidelines, physicians still underuse warfarin in very elderly patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). The risks of stroke and major bleeding both increase with age, but it is still not clear whether the beneficial effects of vitamin K antagonists (VKA) in preventing stroke outweigh the related bleeding risks in fragile, very elderly patients. The bleeding rates reported in real-world observational studies differ considerably.

A new D-dimer cutoff in bedridden hospitalized elderly patients.

Asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism are leading causes of morbidity following the hospitalization of elderly people. The diagnosis of DVT is supported by the D-dimer laboratory assay. The concentration of D-dimer increases in patients with DVT, but may be high in other conditions too (i.