Major bleeding with vitamin K antagonist anticoagulants in pulmonary hypertension

Vitamin K antagonists are advised in pulmonary arterial hypertension patients despite a lack of safety data. We reviewed major bleeding in three classes of pulmonary hypertension patients, all receiving vitamin K antagonists. Bleeding event rates were 5.4 per 100 patient-years for patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, 19 per 100 patient-years for connective tissue disease related pulmonary arterial hypertension patients and 2.4 per 100 patient-years for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension patients. Life tables analysis showed that event-free survival was worse in patients with connective tissue disease related pulmonary hypertension than in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (Wilcoxon=12.8; p