Blood Clot News and Research

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A Blood Clot is a mass of blood that forms when blood platelets, proteins, and cells stick together. When a blood clot is attached to the wall of a blood vessel, it is called a thrombus. When it moves through the bloodstream and blocks the flow of blood in another part of the body, it is called an embolus.

Plasminogen may serve as new target to treat prion diseases

Scientists at the University of Kentucky have discovered that plasminogen, a protein used by the body to break up blood clots, speeds up the progress of prion diseases such as mad cow disease.

11 Jan 2011

J&JPRD submits New Drug Application to FDA for rivaroxaban

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. announced today that it has submitted a New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for rivaroxaban, an investigational, oral, once-daily anticoagulant, for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

6 Jan 2011

Omeros receives exclusive license for new series of antifibrinolytic agents

Omeros Corporation (Nasdaq: OMER) today announced that it has obtained an exclusive license from The Regents of the University of California to a new series of antifibrinolytic agents. These optimized agents represent a significant potential advance in the control of surgical and traumatic bleeding.

6 Jan 2011

Risk-adjusted TTR appears to improve anticoagulation control

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the Bedford VA Medical Center believe that risk-adjusted percent time in therapeutic range should be used as part of an effort to improve anticoagulation control and thus improve patient outcomes.

4 Jan 2011

Researchers to identify gene variants that cause ischemic stroke

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine are coordinating an international team of scientists working to identify genes or gene variants that may make a person more likely to have a particular type of stroke called an ischemic stroke.

30 Dec 2010

Bayer's SAFYRAL oral contraceptive receives FDA approval

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new oral contraceptive (OC), SAFYRAL™ (drospirenone 3 mg/ ethinyl estradiol 30 mcg/ levomefolate calcium 451 mcg tablets and levomefolate calcium 451 mcg tablets). In women who choose an OC for birth control, SAFYRAL raises folate levels for the purpose of reducing the risk of rare neural tube defects (NTDs) in a pregnancy conceived while taking SAFYRAL or shortly after discontinuing it.

17 Dec 2010

Positive results from large, multi-center Canadian trial with On-X Prosthetic Heart Valve

On-X® Life Technologies, Inc., today announced the publication of results of a large, prospective multi-center Canadian trial with the On-X® Prosthetic Heart Valve in the November issue of The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.1 According to the results of the report, "The On-X mechanical prosthesis provides favorable intermediate-term results with regard to major thromboembolism, hemorrhage and composites of valve-related complications."

15 Dec 2010

Fibrin microthreads support mesenchymal stem cell growth

A research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute has demonstrated the feasibility of a novel technology that a surgeon could use to deliver stem cells to targeted areas of the body to repair diseased or damaged tissue, including cardiac muscle damaged by a heart attack. The technique involves bundling biopolymer microthreads into biological sutures and seeding the sutures with stem cells. The team has shown that the adult bone-marrow-derived stem cells will multiply while attached to the threads and retain their ability to differentiate and grow into other cell types.

10 Dec 2010

Firefly enzyme offers new medical imaging agent for blood clot detection

The enzyme that makes fireflies glow is lighting up the scientific path toward a long-sought new medical imaging agent to better monitor treatment with heparin, the blood thinner that millions of people take to prevent or treat blood clots, scientists are reporting. Their study appears in the ACS' monthly journal Bioconjugate Chemistry.

9 Dec 2010

New technique jumpstarts growth of nerve fibers to reverse stroke damage

A new technique that jumpstarts the growth of nerve fibers could reverse much of the damage caused by strokes, researchers report in the Jan. 7, 2011 issue of the journal Stroke.

9 Dec 2010

Breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen anxious to have CYP2D6 genetic test

While the medical community continues to debate the benefits of CYP2D6 genetic testing for women on the breast cancer treatment tamoxifen, patients using the medication are anxious to have the tests. According to a new survey of more than 700 women with breast cancer currently taking tamoxifen, almost 80 percent of respondents would choose to have a genetic test that determines CYP2D6 genotype, yet only 14 percent of these women have been tested. CYP2D6 is an enzyme that influences how well the body processes tamoxifen into its more active form.

7 Dec 2010

New bio-coating technology could enhance long-term performance of medical implant devices

The long-term performance of medical implant devices, like heart valves and cardiac stents, could be enhanced substantially by new bio-coating technology recently licensed to University of Alabama at Birmingham spin-out company Endomimetics LLC through the UAB Research Foundation.

7 Dec 2010

New research focusing on VTE presented at ASH Annual Meeting

The latest advances in the treatment of bleeding and clotting disorders will be presented today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, focusing on venous thrombeombolism, a potentially life-threatening disorder in which abnormal blood clots form in the veins and restrict the flow of blood. New studies examine risk-prediction models and cutting-edge treatment options for patients with VTE.

6 Dec 2010

New clues into mechanisms underlying antiphospholipid syndrome

Thanks to findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, individuals with a potentially life-threatening condition predisposing them to blood clots, or thrombosis, might someday receive therapy to prevent the condition.

4 Dec 2010

Doctors still prescribe higher-dose menopausal hormone therapy pills

Doctors across the country are still prescribing higher-dose menopausal hormone therapy pills, despite clinical evidence that low doses and skin patches work just as well and carry fewer health risks. That's what researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine found in a study that will be published online Dec. 2 in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society.

3 Dec 2010

Scientists find new protein to break-up blood clots in prion diseases

The joy of a juicy hamburger could make a comeback thanks a new discovery by scientists from the University of Kentucky. In a new research report in the December 2010 print issue of The FASEB Journal, scientists found that a protein our body uses to break up blood clots speeds up the progress of prion diseases. This substance, called plasminogen, is a new drug target for prion diseases in both humans and animals.

2 Dec 2010

Aspirin decreases plaque formations that cause heart attacks and strokes

Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., DrPH, the first Sir Richard Doll Research Professor in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University, has published the results of A Randomized Trial of Aspirin at Clinically Relevant Doses and Nitric Oxide Formation in Humans in the current issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

2 Dec 2010

People with OSA are prone to develop atherosclerosis: Study

People with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder associated with obesity, have more non-calcified or "bad" plaque in their coronary arteries, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

30 Nov 2010

Study confirms difference in coronary artery disease pathways among Caucasians, African Americans

In a study being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), researchers say they may have an explanation as to why African Americans, despite having lower amounts of coronary artery calcification, are at increased risk for heart attacks and other cardiovascular events compared with Caucasians.

30 Nov 2010

Discovery may lead to new generation of drugs to minimize heart attack risk

An international team led by researchers from the Universities of Leicester and Cambridge has announced a breakthrough in identifying people at risk of developing potentially fatal blood clots that can lead to heart attack.

24 Nov 2010