Grant: Operating Grant

Blood thinners prevent the formation of new clots in patients who have developed deep vein blood clots or clots that have traveled to the lungs. However, major bleeding associated with their use is a problem, as it will cause death in 12% of cases. Some patients need to be treated with blood thinners longer than 3 months and doctors must decide if they are candidates to continue treatment. This decision depend on balancing the chances between having a major bleed and developing a new clot. So, it is critical to know which patients are more likely to develop major bleeding events with long term blood thinners. This will enable proper treatment decisions. Currently, doctors are unable to predict the chances of bleeding with blood thinners. Some of the rules that have been developed are not well validated and not precise. We have initiated a study to develop a new rule that will determine the chances of bleeding in patients taking blood thinners longer than 3 months. Also, we are planning to determine if the previous rules are useful and precise. Our study will also include the study of inherited factors that may increase the chances of bleeding. The study is partially done but funding has been exhausted. To complete the study we need to enrol 600 more patients and complete 2 further years of observation to develop this rule and therefore supplementary funding is necessary. The development of a well validated and precise rule of bleeding could be useful to the 600,000 Canadians that receive blood thinners on an annual basis.