Venous thromboembolism: Past, present and future

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), the third most frequent acute cardiovascular syndrome, is associated with a considerable disease burden which continues to grow along with the longer life expectancy of the population worldwide. In the past century, parenteral heparin prophylaxis was established for hospitalised patients at elevated risk of VTE. More recently, non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) with a direct inhibiting effect on …