Aspirin: the key to clots?
November 6, 2012
ASPIRIN may hold the key to
keeping clots at bay, according to a
new study from researchers at the
University of Sydney.
The ASPIRE study, conducted by
the National Health and Medical
Research Council's Clinical Trials
Centre at the University of Sydney,
and a team of international
investigators, is published in the
New England Journal of Medicine.
Kicked off in 2003 the ASPIRE
study included 822 participants
from five countries including
Australia, New Zealand, Singapore,
India and Argentina, all of whom
had previously suffered
unprovoked blood clots in the veins
of the leg (deep vein thrombosis or
DVT) or the lungs (pulmonary
embolism or PE).
Participants had completed on
average six months of anti-coagulant
treatment, generally with warfarin,
and were randomly allocated to
receive either low dose enteric
coated aspirin or a matching placebo.
On average participants were
followed for three years.
According to the study results,
participants taking the low dose
aspirin were found to be less likely
to suffer a recurrence of serious
blood clots or cardiac events.
“The results of this study suggest
the simple, inexpensive treatment
of low-dose aspirin could prevent
thousands of patients from
experiencing recurrent clots each
year and may make substantial
healthcare savings in Australia and
worldwide,” said Professor John
Simes, Director of the NHMRC
Clinical Trials Centre at the
University of Sydney and Chair of
the study.
“These results suggest that
aspirin prevents about one third of
recurrent blood clot events.
“For every 1000 patients treated
for one year, aspirin can be
expected to prevent about 20 to 30
episodes of recurrent major
thrombotic events at the cost of
about 3 significant bleeding
episodes,” he added.
Meanwhile speaking about the
study results Dr Tim Brighton, from
Prince of Wales Hospital and
principal investigator of the study,
said that low-dose aspirin can be of
particular benefit for patients who
are unable or do not wish to
continue warfarin in the long term.
“Many patients discontinue
warfarin therapy after six or twelve
months of treatment due to the
inconvenience of regular blood
tests and the increased risks of
serious bleeding [putting them at
high risk of recurring thrombosis],”
he said.
“Aspirin reduces the risk of
important blood clotting event
including recurrent VTE, myocardial
infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular
death,” he added.
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