Correspondence

Fondaparinux for Symptomatic Pulmonary Embolism

N Engl J Med 2004; 350:197January 8, 2004

Article

To the Editor:

The summary of the article on fondaparinux for symptomatic pulmonary embolism in This Week in the Journal (Oct. 30 issue)1 shows the chemical structure of fondaparinux and refers to it as a pentasaccharide. Although it is true that fondaparinux has a pentasaccharide skeleton, its pharmacodynamic activity as a thrombin inhibitor is surely attributable to the eight sulfate groups that make it a polyanion, analogous to heparin. These sulfate groups are shown clearly in the figure accompanying the summary. It would be preferable to describe fondaparinux as a sulfated pentasaccharide or as a pentasaccharide polysulfate.

Alan F. Hofmann, M.D.
University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093

1 References

1. 1

   This week in the Journal. N Engl J Med 2003;349:1689-1689
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