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The Swiss cohort of elderly patients with venous thromboembolism (SWITCO65+): rationale and methodology

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Abstract

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is common and has a high impact on morbidity, mortality, and costs of care. Although most of the patients with VTE are aged ≥65 years, there is little data about the medical outcomes in the elderly with VTE. The Swiss Cohort of Elderly Patients with VTE (SWITCO65+) is a prospective multicenter cohort study of in- and outpatients aged ≥65 years with acute VTE from all five Swiss university and four high-volume non-university hospitals. The goal is to examine which clinical and biological factors and processes of care drive short- and long-term medical outcomes, health-related quality of life, and medical resource utilization in elderly patients with acute VTE. The cohort also includes a large biobank with biological material from each participant. From September 2009 to March 2012, 1,863 elderly patients with VTE were screened and 1003 (53.8 %) were enrolled in the cohort. Overall, 51.7 % of patients were aged ≥75 years and 52.7 % were men. By October 16, 2012, after an average follow-up time of 512 days, 799 (79.7 %) patients were still actively participating. SWITCO65+ is a unique opportunity to study short- and long-term outcomes in elderly patients with VTE. The Steering Committee encourages national and international collaborative research projects related to SWITCO65+, including sharing anonymized data and biological samples.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of General Internal Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Inselspital, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

    Marie Méan, Nicolas Rodondi & Drahomir Aujesky

  2. Division of Angiology and Hemostasis, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland

    Marc Righini & Henri Bounameaux

  3. Department of Angiology, Basel University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

    Kurt Jaeger & Markus Aschwanden

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, Cantonal Hospital of Baden, Baden, Switzerland

    Hans-Jürg Beer & Michael Egloff

  5. Department of Internal Medicine, Cantonal Hospital of Frauenfeld, Frauenfeld, Switzerland

    Beat Frauchiger

  6. Emergency Department, Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Joseph Osterwalder

  7. Division of Angiology, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland

    Nils Kucher

  8. Division of Hematology and Central Hematology Laboratory, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland

    Bernhard Lämmle

  9. Department of Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine, Policlinique Médicale Universitaire, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jacques Cornuz

  10. Service and Central Laboratory of Hematology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Anne Angelillo-Scherrer

  11. Clinical Trials Unit, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Andreas Limacher & Sven Trelle

  12. Cardiovascular Research, Institute of Physiology, Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Christian M. Matter

  13. Division of Angiology, Zurich University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland

    Marc Husmann

  14. Division of Angiology, Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland

    Martin Banyai

  15. Service of Angiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Lucia Mazzolai

  16. Emergency Department, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Olivier Hugli

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  1. Marie Méan
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  2. Marc Righini
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Correspondence to Marie Méan.

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Méan, M., Righini, M., Jaeger, K. et al. The Swiss cohort of elderly patients with venous thromboembolism (SWITCO65+): rationale and methodology. J Thromb Thrombolysis 36, 475–483 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11239-013-0875-2

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