Heparin has long been a preferred anticoagulant during cardiovascular surgery, although limitations exist, including heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and/or anti-platelet factor Ⅳ/heparin (anti-PF4/H) antibodies. Bivalirudin is a direct thrombin inhibitor, which can overcome the shortcoming of heparin. This article reviewed the application of bivalirudin in the field of cardiac surgery, its safety and effectiveness in various surgical treatments as well as summarized the standard protocol, doses, monitoring parameters and targets of bivalirudin for anticoagulation in cardiac surgery and mechanical circulation support. Bivalirudin as an alternative to heparin provides a new selection for anticoagulation in cardiac surgery.
ObjectiveTo investigate long-term outcomes of patients without warfarin anticoagulation after isolated prosthetic aortic valve replacement (AVR) and evaluate the feasibility of short-term instead of lifelong anticoagulation therapy for low-risk AVR patients. MethodsSeven patients who underwent prosthetic AVR in Guangdong General Hospital between 1996 and 1999 but discontinued warfarin anticoagulation 3 years after surgery were regularly followed up. There were 6 male and 1 female patients with their age of 25-75 (40.0±11.4) years. These patients received warfarin anticoagulation during the first 3 years after surgery but discontinued oral anticoagulant 3 years after surgery (discontinued anticoagulation group). Fifteen patients who underwent prosthetic AVR during the same period and continued warfarin anticoagulation were enrolled as the control group (continuing anticoagulation group). International normalized ratio (INR) was set between 1.8 and 2.5 during warfarin anticoagulation period in both groups. Survival rate and the incidence of severe adverse events were compared between the 2 groups. ResultsIn the discontinued anticoagulation group,1 patient was lost during follow-up. No thromboembolic event,death or prosthetic valve thrombosis was observed. All the patients were in NYHA class Ⅰ. In the continuing anticoagulation group,3 patients were lost during follow-up. Eleven patients were in NYHA class Ⅰ and 2 patients were in NYHA class Ⅱ. Severe anticoagulation-related bleeding events occurred in 3 patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. One patient died of massive outbreak of vomiting blood,and another patient had sudden death. Ten-year survival rate was 100.0% and 86.7% in the discontinued anticoagulation group and continuing anticoagulation group, respectively. ConclusionFor low-risk patients after isolated prosthetic AVR,short-term warfarin anticoagulation may be acceptable, which means warfarin is administered only in the first 3 years after surgery and discontinued 3 years after surgery.
In the intensive care units of Japan, nafamostat mesilate (NM) is the most used anticoagulant of continuous blood purification, with the rate of up to 85%. Its biggest characteristic is not to reduce the life of the filter in the group of patients with high risk of bleeding, and it can be safely used. However, there are not a few reports about severe anaphylaxis, when the symptoms of anaphylaxis is recognized after the start of continuous renal replacement therapy, it should be kept in mind that it is NM hypersensitivity. In addition, for an expensive drug, it may be required to be limited in the cases of risk of bleeding complications. NM has been developed for nearly 30 years, so it has high reliability in Japan. However, in the same case, regional citrate anticoagulation is recommended internationally. It may need a randomized controlled trial with regional citrate anticoagulation to prove the real effectiveness of NM.
Objective To assess different anticoagulant regimens in pregnant women with mechanical heart valves: taking oral warfarin throughout the pregnancy, or heparin in the 1st trimester and oral warfarin for the other trimesters. The main outcome measures were major maternal complications and perinatal outcomes. Methods The MEDLINE, EMbase, CBM and CNKI were searched. The quality of the included studies was evaluated and data were extracted by two reviewers independently. Meta-analyses were performed on the results of homogeneous studies. Result Seven studies involving 629 pregnancies in 469 patients met the inclusion criteria for this review, all of which were retrospective surveys. The comparison between the administration of heparin in the 1st trimester plus oral warfarin for the other trimesters and warfarin throughout the pregnancy showed that, there are not significant different in the incidence of major maternal complications and the incidence of adverse perinatal outcomes. Conclusion Compared with the administration of warfarin throughout the pregnancy, the administration of heparin in the 1st trimester and oral warfarin for the other trimesters might increase the incidence of major maternal complications, but with a similar incidence of adverse perinatal outcomes.
Objective To formulate an evidence-based treatment plan for a patient with ischemic stroke accompanied by hypertension and atrial fibrillation. Methods We searched The Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2006), SUMsearch (January 1980 to December 2006) and PubMed (January 1980 to December 2006) to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs), systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses about the efficacy and safety of anticoagulant therapy for ischemic stroke coupled with atrial fibrillation, and blood pressure lowering therapy for ischemic stroke coupled with hypertension. We evaluated the validity, reliability and feasibility of each study to identify the current best evidence. Results Four guidelines, 3 SRs and 6 RCTs were included. The evidence showed that low-intensity anticoagulant therapy was safe and effective for this patient, and that rapid blood pressure lowering therapy was not suitable for acute ischemic stroke. According to the current evidence, as well as the patient’s clinical condition and preference, low-intensity warfarin was given with a target INR (international normalized ratio) of 2.0. During convalescence, he was given oral fosinopril and indapamide. His symptoms were relieved after two weeks of treatment, and follow-up at one month indicated that this plan was suitable for the patient. Conclusions Anticoagulant therapy is still preferred for acute ischemic stroke accompanied by hypertension and atrial fibrillation. The current evidence suggests that warfarin is superior to other anticoagulants. The target INR should be adjusted individually, especially in old patients. The maintenance of a low INR level, if necessary, could maximise utility and minimise the risk of hemorrhage. Aspirin is recommended when anticoagulants cannot be tolerated. Intensive blood pressure lowering therapy is not reasonable for patients with acute ischemic stroke. Antihypertensive drugs like ACEI and low-dose diuretics may be chosen during convalescence.
Abstract: Objective To investigate the anticoagulation effect of warfarin on pregnant women with prosthetic mechanical heart valves during the whole course of pregnancy and their fetuses. Methods Followup survey was carried out on 103 pregnant women with prosthetic mechanical heart valves treated in the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from April 1998 to June 2010. Their age ranged from 19 and 38 years (26.4±3.8 years). All the 103 pregnant women were given oral administration of warfarin during the whole course of pregnancy. The average dose of domestic warfarin was 3.30±0.43 mg/d (87 cases), while the average dose of imported warfarin was 2.90±1.05 mg/d (16 cases). Results None of the patients suffered from serious embolic events. One patient suffered from spontaneous peritoneal hemorrhage. There were 4 cases of intrauterine deaths, and 5 cases of fetal malformation including 1 case of Down’s syndrome and 4 cases of hydrocephalus. Six cases of low birth weight infants and 1 case of ABO hemolytic disease were also found. All the other neonates were healthy with normal weight. No pregnant women suffered from postpartum hemorrhage. Conclusion Oral administration of low dose warfarin (lt;5 mg/d) during the whole course of pregnancy is a relative safe and effective anticoagulation protocol.
To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of anticoagulants in ischaemic stroke primary or secondary prevention and treatment, we searched The Cochrane Library and MEDLINE to find high quality evidence and summarized the available evidence. The results showed that routine immediate anticoagulant therapy in patients with acute ischaemic stroke should not be recommended because it increased the risk of hemorrhage with ineffective reduction to the risk of death or disability. For the high risk group with cardiogenic embolism, anticoagulant therapy could safely and effectively reduce the incidence of stroke or other vascular events. However, for non-cardiogenic embolism group, anticoagulant therapy was hard to balance the benefits and harms.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk and anticoagulant therapy in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).MethodsThe patients with COVID-19 in Optics Valley Hospital of Wuhan Tongji Hospital from February 9, 2020 to March 29, 2020 were collected and analyzed. Padua scores were performed within 24 hours after admission. The relationship between Padua score, disease severity and 28 day prognosis was analyzed.ResultsCOVID-19 was diagnosed in 102 cases. The age, fibrinogen and mortality of the severe group were significantly higher than those of the common group. The Padua score of the severe group was higher than that of the common group, but there was no statistical difference. The platelet count in the critical group was significantly lower than that in the severe group, while the prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and D dimer were significantly higher than that in the severe group, and the Padua score, anticoagulation ratio, and mortality were significantly higher than those in the severe group. According to Padua score 4, it was divided into VTE high risk group (≥ 4 points) and VTE low risk group (<4 points). The mortality, APTT, D dimer and fibrinogen of high risk group were significantly higher than those of low risk group. In the high-risk group of VTE, the anticoagulation rate was significantly higher than that in the low-risk group of VTE, but it was still only 41.7%. The mortality of patients with anticoagulation was lower than that of patients without anticoagulation.ConclusionsSevere and critical novel coronavirus pneumonia patients have obvious coagulation dysfunction and high risk of VTE. Anticoagulant therapy may be associated with low mortality in patients with high risk of VTE, but the proportion of drug-induced anticoagulant intervention still needs to be improved.
Objective To analyze the clinical features of patients with acute pulmonary embolism ( APE) with normal blood pressure and right ventricular dysfunction. Methods 130 hospitalized patients with normotensive APE between January 2009 and January 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography to determine if they were complicated with RVD. The clinical features, risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment were analyzed and compared between the normotensive APE patients with or without RVD. Results 41 normotensive APE patients with RVD were as RVD group, and other 89 patients without RVD were as non-RVD group. The incidences of syncope ( 34.1% vs. 7.8% ) , tachycardia( 41.4% vs. 21.3% ) , P2 hyperthyroidism( 46.3% vs. 25.8% ) , jugular vein filling ( 12.1% vs. 1.1% ) , and cyanosis ( 26.8% vs. 8.9% ) were all significantly higher in the RVD group than those in the non-RVD group ( P lt; 0.05) . Computed tomography pulmonary angiography ( CTPA) revealed that the incidences of thromboembolism involving proximal pulmonary artery ( 58. 3% vs. 8. 3% ) and thromboembolism involving lobar pulmonary ( 77.8% vs.51.2% ) were also higher in the RVD group ( P lt; 0.001, P = 0.025 ) . In the RVD group, the patients were assigned to received thrombolysis plus anticoagulation therapy, or anticoagulation therapy alone. The clinical indicators ( heart rate, PaCO2 , AaDO2 , SPAP, TRPG) were all statistically improved after thrombolysis or anticoagulation treatment ( P lt;0.001) . But compared with the patients who underwent anticoagulation therapy alone, the cost of treatment and the incidence of minor bleeding were significantly higher, and the levels of AaDO2 , SPAP and TRPG were statistically lower in the patients with thrombolysis plus anticoagulation therapy. Conclusions For APE patients with central pulmonary embolism demonstrated by CTPA, syncope, and tachycardia, transthoracic echocardiograph should be performed as early as possible to confirm RVD diagnosis. For normotensive APE patients with RVD, anticoagulant treatment can achieve higher efficacy of costeffectiveness ratio.