Thromb Haemostasis
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Patients who receive long-term oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy often require interruption of OAC for an elective invasive procedure. Current guidelines allow bridging therapy with either unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH). Apart from the risk of embolism, bleeding is an important complication in this setting and the optimal perioperative management of such patients is still under discussion. ⋯ Guideline recommendations were followed in only 31% of cases. Importantly, 69% of patients with AF were over-treated while 51% of patients with heart valve replacement were under-treated with LMWHs. A HASB-BLED score ≥ 3 was highly predictive of bleeding events.
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It was the objective of this study to determine whether reduced cleavage of von Willebrand factor (VWF) multimers following aortic valve replacement (AVR) is a consequence of reduced shear stress or postoperative changes in VWF cleavage protease (ADAMTS-13) activity. Aortic stenosis (AS) may be complicated by acquired von Willebrand disease. Aortic valve replacement (AVR) corrects the associated haematologic abnormalities. ⋯ By multivariable analysis, the change in VWF:RCo ratio after AVR was more strongly associated with the fall in ADAMTS-13 than with reduction of valve gradient; whereas the change in gradient better predicted the rise in VWF:RCo after BAV. In conclusion, both BAV and AVR reverse the haematological abnormalities of the acquired von Willebrand syndrome of AS and ADAMTS-13 levels decrease after AVR. These findings suggest that a portion of the haematologic benefit of AVR may be due to a postoperative decline in ADAMTS-13 rather than solely to relief of AS as previously thought.
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Despite the need for effective and safe thromboprophylactic drugs for patients with renal impairment, clinical trial data on anticoagulant agents are limited in this population. The study aim was to assess in the real-world setting the use of the once-daily 1.5 mg reduced dosage regimen of fondaparinux available for this context. In this prospective cohort study, patients with a creatinine clearance (CrCl) of 20-50 ml/minute, undergoing total hip (THR) or knee (TKR) replacement or hip fracture surgery (HFS) received fondaparinux thromboprophylaxis. ⋯ One-month mortality was 2.3% (0.9-3.6). This large clinical prospective study provides for the first time, under conditions reflecting "real-world" routine clinical practice, data on the bleeding and VTE risks of thromboprophylaxis with fondaparinux 1.5 mg after major orthopaedic surgery in renally impaired patients. It shows that these patients constitute a very elderly and fragile population.
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Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common significant cardiac rhythm disorder. Oral anticoagulation (OAC) is recommended by guidelines in the presence of a moderate to high risk of stroke. Based on an analysis of claims-based data, the aim of this contribution is to quantify the stroke-risk dependent OAC utilisation profile of German AF patients as well as the possible causes and the associated clinical outcomes of OAC under-use. ⋯ In our multi-level Poisson random effects estimate, OAC use decreases the stroke rate by almost 80% (IRR 0.236). In conclusion, OAC under-use is widespread in the German market. It is associated with severe clinical consequences.
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North American and European guidelines on atrial fibrillation (AF) are conflicting regarding the classification of patients at low/intermediate risk of stroke. We aimed to investigate if the CHA2DS2-VASc score improved risk stratification of AF patients with a CHADS2 score of 0-1. Using individual-level-linkage of nationwide Danish registries 1997-2008, we identified patients discharged with AF having a CHADS2 score of 0-1 and not treated with vitamin K antagonist or heparin. ⋯ In conclusion, the CHA2DS2-VASc provides critical information on risk of stroke in AF patients with a CHADS2 score of 0-1 that can aid a decision of using anticoagulation. Even in patients categorised as 'low risk' using a CHADS2 score=0, the CHA2DS2-VASc score significantly improved the predictive value of the CHADS2 score alone and a CHA2DS2-VASc score=0 could clearly identify 'truly low risk' subjects. Use of the CHA2DS2-VASc score would significantly improve classification of AF patients at low and intermediate risk of stroke, compared to the commonly used CHADS2 score.