Treatment of Venous Thromboembolism with Edoxaban over 18 Months: Results from ETNA-VTE Europe.

Background:  The benefits and risks of extending anticoagulant treatment beyond the first 3 to 6 months in patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) in clinical practice are not well understood.

Methods:  ETNA-VTE Europe is a prospective, noninterventional, post-authorization study in unselected patients with VTE treated with edoxaban in eight European countries for up to 18 months. Recurrent VTE, major bleeding, and all-cause death were the primary study outcomes.

Results:  The median age of the 2,644 patients was 65 years; 46.6% were female, and 22.8% had a history of VTE. The median treatment duration was 50.6 weeks (interquartile range: 23.4-77.7). VTE recurrence occurred in 100 patients (3.8% at an annual rate of 2.7%/year); 37 patients (1.4%) were on edoxaban at the time of the event, with a corresponding annualized rate of 1.6%/year. Major bleeding was experienced by 37 patients (1.4%) during edoxaban treatment, corresponding to an annualized rate of 1.5%/year. Overall, 95 patients died (3.6%; annualized rate 2.6%/year), with the majority for reasons other than VTE- and cardiovascular (CV)-related causes. Out of 15 deaths (1.9%; annualized rate 2.1%/year) that occurred during edoxaban treatment, 1 was related to VTE and 11 related to CV (annualized rate 0.0%/year and 0.5%/year).

Conclusions:  ETNA-VTE Europe provides evidence for the real-world effectiveness of edoxaban treatment (up to 18 months) based on a low rate of VTE recurrence, all-cause death, and major bleeding, and is aligned with the results of the randomized clinical trial reassuring the use of edoxaban in the treatment of VTE in routine clinical practice.