Omega-3 Fatty Acids Predict Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism or Total Mortality in Elderly Patients with Acute Venous Thromboembolism.

BACKGROUND The role of omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) in recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES To investigated the association of n-3 FAs with recurrent VTE or total mortality at six months and three years. METHODS N-3 FAs were assessed in 826 patients aged ≥65 years, categorized into low, medium, and high based on the 25(th) and 75(th) percentile. Mean follow up was 29 months. RESULTS At six months, subjects with medium (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22 to 0.62) and high n-3 FA levels (adjusted HR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.67) were less likely to develop recurrent VTE or total mortality, compared with low n-3 FAs. At three years, medium levels (adjusted HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.96) were associated with lower risk of recurrent VTE or total mortality. As compared with low n-3 FAs, the adjusted subhazard ratio [SHR] of recurrent VTE was 0.39 (95% CI, 0.15 to 0.99) in patients with medium and 0.17 (95% CI, 0.03 to 0.82) in patients with high n-3 FAs. The cumulative incidence of recurrent VTE was lower in the medium and high n-3 FA groups as compared with low n-3 FAs, but seems to have worn off after 3 years. Incidence of major and non-major bleeding was not greater in the high n-3 FA groups. CONCLUSION Higher levels of n-3 FA were associated with a lower risk of recurrent VTE or total mortality in elderly patients with VTE, but not with greater bleeding risk. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved