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Objectives: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a major health-care burden in Europe, but exact estimates are lacking. This study reports results from the PREFER venous thromboembolism (VTE) study concerning health-related quality of life (HrQoL) and mortality of patients with DVT., Methods: PREFER VTE was a prospective, observational study, conducted in 7 European countries, designed to provide data concerning treatment patterns, resource utilization, mortality, and QoL. First-time or recurrent patients with DVT were followed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Health-related QoL-as measured by the EuroQoL 5-Dimension 5-Level instrument ( EQ-5D-5L)-was analyzed using Tobit regression with repeated measures, assessing the impact of baseline characteristics stratified by cancer activity. Mortality was analyzed using logistic regression., Results: At baseline, patients with DVT had a 0.14 lower EQ-5D-5L index score (0.72 for total sample) compared to the reference UK population (0.85). The EQ-5D-5L index score improved from baseline to 12 months in patients with active cancer (from 0.70 to 0.79) and those without (0.72-0.87); 7.3% died within a year, a 5.2% excess mortality compared to the age- and gender-adfjusted general population. The 12-month mortality rate of DVT varied between 2.9% in the pooled data from Germany, Switzerland, or Austria and 15.4% in Italy. Furthermore, the mortality rate differed between patients with active cancer and those without (42.9% vs 4.7%)., Conclusions: Deep vein thrombosis is associated with a substantial burden of illness in terms of HrQoL at baseline, which following treatment normalizes after 12 months and has a significant mortality rate. In addition, active cancer has a significant impact on mortality and the HrQoL of patients with DVT.

Aims: To better delineate the characteristics, treatments, and outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in representative countries across Europe and the Mediterranean basin, and to examine adherence to current guidelines., Methods and Results: We performed a prospective survey (103 hospitals, 25 countries) of 10484 patients with a discharge diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes. The initial diagnosis was ST elevation ACS in 42.3%, non-ST elevation ACS in 51.2%, and undetermined electrocardiogram ACS in 6.5%. The discharge diagnosis was Q wave myocardial infarction in 32.8%, non-Q wave myocardial infarction in 25.3%, and unstable angina in 41.9%. The use of aspirin, beta-blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, and heparins for patients with ST elevation ACS were 93.0%, 77.8%, 62.1%, and 86.8%, respectively, with corresponding rates of 88.5%, 76.6%, 55.8%, and 83.9% for non-ST elevation ACS patients. Coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary interventions, and coronary bypass surgery were performed in 56.3%, 40.4%, and 3.4% of ST elevation ACS patients, respectively, with corresponding rates of 52.0%, 25.4%, and 5.4% for non-ST elevation ACS patients. Among patients with ST elevation ACS, 55.8% received reperfusion treatment; 35.1% fibrinolytic therapy and 20.7% primary percutaneous coronary interventions. The in-hospital mortality of patients with ST elevation ACS was 7.0%, for non-ST elevation ACS 2.4%, and for undetermined electrocardiogram ACS 11.8%. At 30 days, mortality was 8.4%, 3.5%, and 13.3%, respectively., Conclusions: This survey demonstrates the discordance between existing guidelines for ACS and current practice across a broad region in Europe and the Mediterranean basin and more extensively reflects the outcomes of ACS in real practice in this region.