Risks and Benefits of Combined Use of Bucolome and Warfarin in Anticoagulation Therapy

Abstract

Although bucolome has been used empirically to enhance and stabilize warfarin action in some institutes, the clinical risks and benefits of this combination are unclear. In the present study, warfarin monotherapy (WM) and bucolome combination (BC) therapy were compared in anticoagulation therapy.
One hundred and ninety-five patients indicated for anticoagulation therapy were randomly assigned to WM (n = 98) or BC (bucolome 300 mg/day, n = 97). The dosage of warfarin was optimized in each patient to maintain the international normalized ratio (INR) level in the appropriate zone, ie, 1.6-2.6 for lower risk and 2.0-3.0 for higher risk patients. The clinical characteristics, clinical events, and time in therapeutic range (TTR) were evaluated and compared between the two groups. TTR was calculated using Rosendaal’s linear interpolation method.
The optimal dosage of warfarin was 3.3 ± 1.0 mg/day in WM and 1.4 ± 0.5 mg/day in BC (P < 0.001). During the observation period of 18 ± 6 months, no serious complication was observed and INR was measured 11 ± 3 times in each case. TTR was 0.61 ± 0.13 in WM and 0.62 ± 0.14 in BC (NS), but TTR in the WM subgroup with warfarin > 3 mg (0.58 ± 0.13) was lower than in the WM subgroup with warfarin ≤ 3 mg (0.64 ± 0.13, P = 0.026) and BC (P = 0.042).
BC reduced the optimal dosage of warfarin without increasing clinical events. There was no significant difference in TTR between WM and BC, but BC may have benefits in selected cases, such as warfarin resistance.