Published: 18 May 2016
Author(s): F. Moustafa, J. Saint Denis, S. Laporte, P. Mismetti, J. Schmidt
Issue: May 2016
Section: Letter to the Editor

Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) are the most commonly-used anticoagulant treatments for the prevention of thrombotic and embolic events related to atrial fibrillation, venous thromboembolism (VTE), and prosthetic heart valve. The incidence of major bleedings has been estimated at 7%, and that of fatal bleedings at 1% [1]. The primary bleeding complications observed in patients receiving long-term VKA therapy are either gastrointestinal (30–60% of cases) or cerebral (17–30%) [2,3]. The current guidelines recommend administering four-factor PCC (4 F-PCC) rather than FFP to reverse VKA-induced coagulopathy in patients suffering from major VKA-associated bleedings, while optimal dosage protocols have not yet been clearly defined, thus differing widely [4–7].

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