Venous thromboembolism, which includes deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is a common disease with an annual incidence of 0.5-1.6 per 1000 in the general population.1-4 Standard treatment with intravenous or subcutaneous heparin or low molecular heparin relayed with oral anticoagulants is highly effective in preventing recurrent episodes of venous thromboembolism.5 However, oral anticoagulant therapy has a number of limitations including an increased risk of major bleeding and the need for laboratory monitoring to adjust dose. Because of these limitations, venous thromboembolism is usually treated with oral anticoagulants for a limited period of time. Anticoagulants are generally discontinued when the risks and inconvenience of remaining on treatment outweigh the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism. Indeed, recent studies showed that after discontinuation of anticoagulant treatment, the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism remains high in patients with idiopathic venous thromboembolism.