Summary
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in
Europe. Data from real-world registries are necessary, as clinical trials do not represent
the full spectrum of VTE patients seen in clinical practice. We aimed to document
the epidemiology, management and outcomes of VTE using data from a large, observational
database. PREFER in VTE was an international, non-interventional disease registry
conducted between January 2013 and July 2015 in primary and secondary care across
seven European countries. Consecutive patients with acute VTE were documented and
followed up over 12 months. PREFER in VTE included 3,455 patients with a mean age
of 60.8 ± 17.0 years. Overall, 53.0% were male. The majority of patients were assessed
in the hospital setting as inpatients or outpatients (78.5%). The diagnosis was deep-vein
thrombosis (DVT) in 59.5% and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 40.5%. The most common comorbidities
were the various types of cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension; 45.5%),
hypertension (42.3%) and dyslipidaemia (21.1%). Following the index VTE, a large proportion
of patients received initial therapy with heparin (73.2%), almost half received a
vitamin K antagonist (48.7%) and nearly a quarter received a DOAC (24.5%). Almost
a quarter of all presentations were for recurrent VTE, with >80% of previous episodes
having occurred more than 12 months prior to baseline. In conclusion, PREFER in VTE
has provided contemporary insights into VTE patients and their real-world management,
including their baseline characteristics, risk factors, disease history, symptoms
and signs, initial therapy and outcomes.
Keywords
Venous thromboembolism - anticoagulation - registry - direct oral anticoagulants -
vitamin K antagonists