To the Editor: In a valuable review of low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWH), Eikelboom and Hankey1 stray off the beaten path into the unwelcoming area of obstetric therapeutics — a notoriously hostile environment replete with traps and hazards. Their statement that "low-molecular-weight heparins are being used increasingly in pregnant women with prosthetic heart valves and for the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism" is contentious and requires considerable qualification.
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- 1. Eikelboom JW, Hankey GJ. Low molecular weight heparins and heparinoids. Med J Aust 2002; 177: 379-383. <eMJA full text>
- 2. Anticoagulation in pregnancy and the puerperium. Med J Aust 2001; 175: 258-263. <eMJA full text>
- 3. Ginsberg J, Greer I, Hirsh J. Use of antithrombotic agents during prenancy. Chest 2001; 119: 122S-131S.