Role of Inflammation in Modulating Thrombotic-Fibrinolytic Balance in Venous Thrombosis.

Although no doubt an oversimplification, in many respects, a significant portion of cardiovascular trials in the late 1990s and early 2000s demonstrated that whether we do not clot we do not die as long as we do not bleed to death. These trials were focused on novel anticoagulants targeting platelets and thrombin-mediated thrombosis. These studies focused on potent anticoagulants that ultimately demonstrated limited efficacy because they were not targeted at the disease or the disease process. Rather, they were systemic anticoagulants that led to a decrease in coagulation throughout the body, not focused on the area of vascular injury that led to greater adverse events than therapeutic benefit.