VIDEO: Longer period of postpartum thromboembolic risk raises therapeutic questions

Findings from a large study of women following their first pregnancy extend the postpartum period of heightened risk for thromboembolic events from the previously known 6 weeks to 12 weeks, leaving physicians with new questions that need to be answered in further studies about the need for longer periods of anticoagulation therapy in some women. In a video interview, Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele of the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, comments on the findings at the International Stroke Conference. The study also was published Feb. 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine in conjunction with the report at the conference (2014 Feb. 13 [doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1311485).