Adherence to a guideline for coumarins in pregnancy.

Objective: To asses the adherence in daily clinical practice to a guideline for anticoagulation during pregnancy.

Methods: The Dutch anticoagulation clinics developed a pregnancy guideline for anticoagulant therapy in order to avoid foetal exposure to coumarins between the 6th and 9th week of gestation. Anticoagulation was studied in 282 prospectively-registered pregnant women, who were treated by 26 different anticoagulation clinics.

Comparison of control and stability of oral anticoagulant therapy using acenocoumarol versus phenprocoumon.

Variability in the control of oral anticoagulant therapy has been associated with a heightened risk of complications. We compared control of anticoagulation between two commonly used coumarins, phenprocoumon and acenocoumarol, and among anticoagulation clinics. All qualifying patients were managed at six regional anticoagulation clinics in the Netherlands.