Warfarin patients experience more bleeding in the brain
15 years, 7 months ago
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Posted on Oct 01, 2008, 5 a.m.
By Rich Hurd
New research suggests that people who take the blood-thinning drug warfarin are more likely to die if they have a hemorrhagic stroke because they experience more bleeding in the brain than people not taking the drug.
New research suggests that people who take the blood-thinning drug warfarin are more likely to die if they have a hemorrhagic stroke because they experience more bleeding in the brain than people not taking the drug.
Researchers from the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine studied 258 hemorrhagic stroke sufferers – 51 of which were taking warfarin before their stroke. Results showed that those who took warfarin and suffered a brain hemorrhage while their international normalized ratio (INR) – a measure of the blood's clotting ability – was above 3.0 had approximately twice as much initial bleeding as those not taking the drug.
“There is a slight increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke with warfarin, but that is more than offset by the reduction in risk of ischemic stroke for most patients with atrial fibrillation,” says lead author Michael Flaherty in a news release issued by the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine. “People should talk to their doctors about the proper management of warfarin and learn the signs of stroke so they can get to an emergency room immediately if a stroke occurs.”
Flaherty ML, Tao H, Haverbusch M, Sekar P, Kleindorfer D, Kissela B, Khatri P, Stettler B, Adeoye O, Moomaw CJ, Broderick JP, Woo D. Warfarin use leads to larger intracerebral hematomas. Neurology. 2008;71:1084-1089.
