ObjectiveTo evaluate the in-hospital and long-term outcomes of patients receiving mitral valve replacement with mechanical or biological prosthesis.MethodsThe clinical data of patients undergoing mitral valve replacement in our center between January 2005 and August 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with emergency, reoperation, bleeding or embolic events or incomplete clinical data were ruled out.ResultsTotally 569 patients were enrolled, including 325 with mechanical prosthesis (a mechanical prosthesis group, 111 males and 214 females with a mean age of 55.54±4.09 years) and 244 bioprosthesis (a bioprosthesis group, 90 males and 154 females with a mean age of 60.02±4.28 years). There was no significant difference in the in-hospital mortality between the two groups (P=0.250). The survival rate at postoperative 15 years of the bioprosthesis group was higher than that of mechanical prosthesis group (78.69% vs. 66.25%, χ2=8.844, P=0.003). No remarkable differences were found in prosthesis failure (P=0.183) and thromboembolism events (P=0.505) between the two groups. Bleeding occurred more frequently in the mechanical prosthesis group (P=0.040). After the propensity-score matched analysis based on the age, the survival rate was still higher in the bioprosthesis group than in the mechanical prosthesis group (P=0.032).ConclusionBiological prosthesis can be considered as the preferable choice in mitral valve replacement procedure in order to improve the long-term survival and decrease the frequent of bleeding events.
Objective Influence factors of the stable warfarin dose in the early period after mechanical prosthetic valve replacement were analyzed to guide the anticoagulation therapy for these patients. Methods A total of 288 patients within 6 months after mechanical prosthetic valve replacement in West China Hospital were followed up and registered at outpatient department from July 2012 to April 2014, including basic information (name, sex, age, height, weight, etc.), general clinical data (cardiac function, heart rate, surgery pattern, etc.) and related data about anticoagulation therapy. The target international standardized ratio (INR) range was 1.60 to 2.20 and the acceptable INR was 1.50 to 2.30. The sex, age, height, body weight, body mass index (BMI), body surface area (BSA) and related clinical factors were analyzed to find the relationship with the dose of warfarin. Results Sex was found to have a significant effect on the stable warfarin dose (P<0.05). Women needed a lower stable warfarin dose than men during the early anticoagulation therapy. There was no significant difference in the stable warfarin dose of patients with different ages, rhythms, NYHA classification, surgery pattern and diseases before operation; but the stable warfarin dose was lower in the patients with radiofrequency ablation during valve replacement procedures than the patients with single valve replacement (P<0.05). There was an association between age, height, weight, BMI, BSA and the stable warfarin dose withR2 of 1.2%, 3.2%, 3.5%, 1.1%, 4.2%, respectively and they could explain 6.1% of variability in warfarin dose. Conclusion During early anticoagulation therapy in patients with mechanical prosthetic valve replacement, it is necessary to consider the effects of various preoperative factors, drug factors and demographic factors on warfarin dose. Even though there is an association between age, height, weight, BMI, BSA and the stable warfarin dose, which can only explain 6.1% of variability in warfarin dose, thus cannot guide the postoperative anticoagulation of these patients.
ObjectiveTo explore the therapeutic effects of different surgical strategies on women with mechanical valve dysfunction during pregnancy.MethodsA total of 11 patients with mechanical valve dysfunction during pregnancy who underwent surgeries in our hospital from 2007 to 2017 were retrospectively included. The average age was 27.5±3.7 years. The prognosis of patients was analyzed according to the gestational weeks, cardiac function and the severity of mechanical valve dysfunction.ResultsNo death occurred. Three of them suffered subtotal hysterectomy during the surgery because of uncontrolled bleeding, and the others recovered without complications. Among the 5 patients with pregnancies <28 weeks, 1 patient was found intrauterine death before hospital admission, 2 suffered fetal loss 5 days after the cardiac surgery, and the other 2 patients continued their gestations until deliveries. Among the other 6 patients with pregnancies >28 weeks, 1 fetus died because of intracranial hemorrhage, and the other 5 survived without embryopathy or foetopathy.ConclusionGestation week, cardiac function and severity of mechanical valve dysfunction may be taken into account when making a treatment regimen for women with dysfunctional valve prostheses during pregnancy.
Clinical application history of prosthetic heart valves has been over five decades, and mechanical heart valves have satisfactory clinical outcomes for surgical treatment of valvular heart disease. The development history of mechanical heart valves experienced from the first generation of ball valves and caged disc valves to the second generation of single tilting disc valve, and to the third generation of bileaflet valves. In 1960， ball valve was first used for heart valve replacement in abroad. In 1963， China-made ball valve was also produced and used in clinical practice. In 1969， the second generation of single tilting disc valve was developed in abroad. In 1978， China-made single tilting disc valve was produced and widely used in clinical practice with satisfactory clinical outcomes. Since 1980 when it was first produced， bileaflet valve has taken the place of above 2 types of valves for its excellent performance, and become the mainstream product all over the world. Currently, the development of China-made bileaflet valves has lagged behind， and domestic mechanical heart valve market has almost been monopolized by foreign bileaflet valve products. Therefore, the development of ideal China-made mechanical heart valve deserves further research.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the reasonableness of anticoagulation management strategy in patients after mechanical heart valve replacement. MethodsAll patients were followed and registered continually at outpatient clinic from July 2011 to February 2013, with a minimum of 6 months after surgery. Targeted international normalized rate (INR) 1.60 to 2.20 and warfarin weekly dosage adjustment were used as the strategy of anticoagulation management. Except bleeding, thrombogenesis and thromboembolism, time in therapeutic range (TTR) and fraction of TTR (FTTR) were adopted to evaluate the quality of anticoagulation management. ResultsA total 1 442 patients and 6 461 INR values were included for data analysis. The patients had a mean age of 48.2±10.6 years (14-80 years) and the following up time were 6 to 180 months (39.2±37.4 months) after surgery. Of these patients, 1 043 (72.3%) was female and 399 (27.7%) was male. INR values varied from 0.90-8.39 (1.85±0.49) and required weekly doses of warfarin were 2.50-61.25 (20.89±6.93 mg). TTR of target INR and acceptable INR were 51.1% (156 640.5 days/306 415.0 days), 64.9% (198 856.0 days/306 415.0 days), respectively. FTTR of target INR and acceptable INR were 49.4% (3 193 times/6 461 times), 62.6% (4 047 times/6 461 times). There were 8 major bleeding events, 7 mild bleeding events, 2 thromboembolism events, and 2 thrombogenesis in the left atrium. ConclusionIt is reasonable to use target INR 1.60-2.20 and warfarin weekly dosage adjustment for patients after mechanical heart valve replacement.
Objective To analyze the causes of mechanical valve dysfunction and the reconstructive surgical procedure, and summarize the treatment experiences in perioperative period. Methods From October 1996 to October 2008, 12 276 patients underwent mechanical valve replacement in Fu Wai Hospital. Thirtytwo of them were reoperated because of mechanical valve dysfunction. There were 12 male and 20 female aged from 1661 years with an average age of 43.8 years. All the reoperations were performed under hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass, including 16 mitral valve replacement, 8 aortic valve replacement, 3 aortic and mitral valve replacement, 3 tricuspid valve replacement, 2 disc rotation and 1 excision of an excessive knot. There were 13 emergency operation and 19 elective operation. Results The time of ventilator assistant respiration was 5.1-144.0 hours.The median time was 15 hours and tracheostomy was needed in 2 cases. Six patients died after reoperations, the mortality rate was 18.8%(6/32). Three died of low cardiac output syndrome, 2 died of multiple organ failure and 1 died of malignant arrhythmia. Three cases had complications. There were 1 infective endocarditis, 1 intractable hiccup and 1 incisional infection, respectively. They were all cured and discharged. Conclusion Prosthetic valve dysfunction is one of the serious complications after mechanical valve replacement. Early detection, early diagnosis and early reoperation are needed.
Objective To compare the result of different anticoagulation methods after mechanical heart valve replacement in order to optimize the early-stage anticoagulation therapy. Methods Eighty-six patients with mechanical valve replacement were divided into four groups according to different anticoagulation methods, warfarin group 1 ： warfarin was given from the 1st day after operation; warfarin group 2： warfarin was given from the 2nd day after operation; dipyridamole group： dipyridamole was given for two days from the 1st day after operation, and usage of warfarin from the 2nd day after operation ; fraxiparine group ： fraxiparine was given for two days from the 1st day after operation, and warfarin was given from the 2nd day after operation. Complication and post-operative death were observed. The value of porthrombin time （PT）, international normal ratio （INR）, and blood clotting factor Ⅱ , Ⅶ etc. were monitored respectively at the day before operation, the day of operation and the 3rd, 5th day after operation. Results All the results of 4 groups have met the anticoagulation requirement on the 5th day after operation （INR 1.5-2. 0）, and no hemorrhage, embolism and death occurred. In warfarin group 1, level of blood clotting factor Ⅱ , Ⅶ decreased, and level of PT, INR rose continuously, level of INR was 2.13±1.14 at the 5th day after operation, 1NR of 7 cases more than 2.0 in warfarin group 1 which was significant statistically compare with the other 3 groups（P〈0. 01）. Conclusions To adopt warfarin with the maintainable dose from the 2nd day after mechanical valve replacement could simplify anticoagulation method, with no increased risk of post-operative complications, such as hemorrhage and embolism. There is no need for additional anticoagulation methods.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of warfarin anticoagulant therapy in patients with stable stage after mechanical valve replacement surgery, to observe the effect of compound salvia miltiorrhiza tablet on the anticoagulant effect of warfarin in patients after mechanical valve replacement, and to understand the impact of genetic polymorphisms of VKORC1, CYP2C9 and CYP4F2 on warfarin resistance in patients with mechanical valve replacement in the stable period.MethodsFrom July 2011 to February 2014, 1 831 patients who had ≥ 6 months after mechanical valve replacement surgery were enrolled at the outpatient follow-up. The basic clinical data were recorded. Anticoagulant therapy uses a target international normalized ratio（INR, 1.60–2.20) and a weekly warfarin dose adjustment strategy. Forty-six patients who needed compound salvia miltiorrhiza tablet were screened and the INR values. Before and after taking tablets were recorded and compared. The patients were divided into three groups according to the percentile of warfarin dosage including a warfarin sensitive patients group, a control patients group, and a warfarin resistance patients group. And 101 of them were selected. TIANGEN blood DNA Kit blood genomic DNA extraction kit was used to extract samples and polymerase chain restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RELP) was used to determine the genotypes of patients. The detected gene loci included CYP4F2: rs2108622C>T locus; VKORC1:1639G>A locus; VKORC1:1173C>T locus; CYP2C9*2: rs1799853C>T locus; CYP2C9*3:1061A>C locus.ResultsThe time in therapeutic range (TTR) and fraction of time in therapeutic range (FTTR) in the target INR range of the patients included in the study period was 27.2% and 49.4%, respectively, and the TTR and FTTR in the acceptable INR range was 34.25% and 63.36%, respectively. Before and after the addition of compound salvia miltiorrhiza tablets, the INR value was 1.55±0.03 and 1.69±0.30, respectively, and the difference was statistically different (P<0.05). A total of 101 patients with genetic testing, in which the C/T composition of the VKORC1: 1173C>T locus increased in the warfarin sensitivity, contrast and warfarin resistance patients, while the ratio of allelic loci of C/T in CYP2C9*3: 1061A>C loci decreased in turn. There was no difference in the CYP4F2 gene, VKORC1639 gene, and CYP2C9*2 locus. The IWPC model predicts that warfarin dose is only consistent with the actual warfarin dose in warfarin sensitive patients.ConclusionRelatively low TTR and FTTR are acceptable in patients with stable stage after mechanical valve replacement. It is beneficial to the patients with compound salvia miltiorrhiza tablets in terms of some appropriate patients. VKORC1: 1173C>T site and CYP2C9*3: 1061A>C site mutation is the main pharmacological gene factor of warfarin dose sensitivity and warfarin resistance in stable period after mechanical valve replacement. The IWPC dose prediction model is only consistent with the actual dose of warfarin sensitive patients.
Abstract： Objective To summarize our operative experiences of cardiac reoperation after mechanical valve prosthesis replacement and investigate the causes of reoperation and the perioperative techniques and operation methods. Methods From January 2001 to December 2008, we performed reoperation on 105 patients (59 males and 46 females, aged 50.2±10.6 years old) who had undergone mechanical valve prosthesis replacement. Among the patients, there were 31 cases of mitral valvular replacement (+ tricuspid valvular plasticity), 38 cases of aortic valvular replacement (+ tricuspid valvular plasticity), 11 cases of Bentall procedure, 7 cases of mitral and aortic bivalvular replacement (+tricuspid valvular plasticity), 8 cases of tricuspid valvular replacement, 6 cases of repairing of prosthetic leakage, and 4 others cases. The time interval between two operations was 3 months to 18 years (46.3 ±31.9 months). Before reoperation, the cardiac function (NYHA) of the patients was class Ⅱ in 27 patients, class Ⅲ in 53 patients, and class Ⅳ in 25 patients. Results There were 6 hospital deaths with a mortality of 5.71%(6/105). All others recovered to NYHA class ⅠⅡ. The causes of mortality included 1 case of multiple organ failure, 1 case of low cardiac output after operation, 1 case of aortic pseudoaneurysm rupture, 1 case of severe infection due to brain complication and 2 cases of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). The causes for cardiac reoperation after mechanical valve prosthesis replacement were 67 cases of prosthetic leakage (63.80%), 16 cases of PVE (15.23%), 14 cases of prosthetic thrombosis (13.33%) and 8 cases of other valvular anomalies. Followup was done for 11 to 107 months, which showed two cases late deaths of cardiac arrest and cerebral hemorrhage. Conclusion Patients who have received mechanical valve prosthesis replacement may undergo cardiac reoperation due to paravalvular prosthetic leakage, paravalvular endocarditis, and prosthetic thrombosis. The keys to a successful cardiac reoperation include appropriate preoperative preparations, operational timing, and suitable choosing of cardiopulmonary bypass and operational skills.
The management of women with mechanical heart valves during pregnancy remains difficult and controversial. The selection of prosthetic heart valve, management during pregnancy and delivery period, guidelines and anticoagulation strategy used in patients with a mechanical heart valve in China are summarized in this review.