For how we live.
Approved 9 November, asundexian is cleared alongside antiplatelet therapy to lower ischaemic stroke risk after a non-cardioembolic stroke or high-risk TIA. In a 12,327-patient trial it cut that risk by 26%.
The FDA logged a Class I recall of nearly 21,000 vials of the blood-thinner argatroban on 28 October, citing particles - from cellulose to stainless steel - found in the solution of an intravenous anticoagulant.
The FDA logged a Class I recall of Instrumentation Laboratory's HemosIL AcuStar HIT assay on 21 October. Certain lots can read up to 47% low, risking a missed diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.
A detailed safety analysis of the 12,254-patient OCEANIC-STROKE trial found no significant rise in major bleeding with the factor XI blocker, though lower gastrointestinal bleeding was more frequent.
In 3,000 patients eligible for blood thinners, the device maker's trial found left atrial appendage closure noninferior to anticoagulant drugs, and superior for non-procedure-related bleeding at three years.
The TRACK trial was stopped early for futility. The blood thinner failed to reduce a composite of cardiovascular events, while major bleeding rose by half. Bayer, which makes the drug, was a listed collaborator.
For most adults who bruise more than they used to, the cause is thinner skin from ageing, sun or steroids, plus the aspirin and anticoagulants many older people take. A few patterns point elsewhere.
Self-testing and self-managing warfarin cut clot events by roughly 40%, and self-management also lowered deaths — one of the few at-home tests with randomised evidence of real benefit.
LIBREXIA-ACS enrolled 14,194 patients before stopping for futility. Milvexian did not reduce events, but intracranial and fatal bleeding were identical to placebo, which is the class's whole premise.
Guidelines have hedged on anticoagulation for people with one stroke risk factor. SINGLE-AF randomised 1,803 patients in South Korea, and the events it counted were very few in both arms.
The STABLED trial randomized 331 atrial fibrillation patients with a recent stroke to ablation plus anticoagulation or anticoagulation alone. The two groups ended up nearly identical.