Dramatic response to low-dose rivaroxaban in an Asian patient with deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism

Junji Yamaguchi; Kunihiko Makino; Yukiko Kusunose; Shirika Higa; Takuro Takagi; Ken Suzuki; Tetsuo Lee

doi:10.1016/j.jccase.2013.05.002

Dramatic response to low-dose rivaroxaban in an Asian patient with deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism

J Cardiol Cases. 2013 Jun 7;8(2):e77-e80. doi: 10.1016/j.jccase.2013.05.002. eCollection 2013 Aug.

Authors

Junji Yamaguchi¹, Kunihiko Makino², Yukiko Kusunose², Shirika Higa¹, Takuro Takagi², Ken Suzuki³, Tetsuo Lee²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Internal Medicine, Toshiba General Hospital, 6-3-22 Higashi-ohi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-8522, Japan.
² Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Toshiba General Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Division of Hematology, Toshiba General Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

We report a case of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism treated with rivaroxaban due to warfarin allergy. The patient responded well to a low dose of 15 mg/day. There has been a report about treating patients with atrial fibrillation using a low dose of rivaroxaban in Japan, but no previous reports about deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism. This case suggests that rivaroxaban could be an alternative to warfarin for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in Japanese patients with warfarin allergy. <Learning objective: Recently, several new anticoagulant medications have been released, but their efficacy has not been clarified. Rivaroxaban has shown efficacy for atrial fibrillation, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism in Europe and the USA, but this has not been demonstrated in Japan. The present case suggests that rivaroxaban can improve deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in Japanese patients at a low dose.>.

Keywords: Deep vein; Pulmonary embolism; Rivaroxaban; Thrombosis; Warfarin.

Publication types

Case Reports