J Formos Med Assoc
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Asians may be less vulnerable to thrombotic disease than Caucasians. Optimum international normalized ratio (INR) anticoagulant therapy guidelines for Asian populations remain to be established. This study investigated the risk factors for major bleeding or thromboembolism (TE) in Taiwanese patients receiving mechanical aortic and/or mitral valve replacement, including INR < or > 2.0. ⋯ Our data suggest that low-intensity anticoagulant therapy (INR < 2.0) in Taiwanese patients was not associated with increased TE and bleeding rates compared to higher intensity anticoagulant therapy. Follow-up age over 60 years and valve replacement at the mitral site were associated with increased rate of overall events.
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Case Reports
Spontaneous hemothorax caused by a ruptured intercostal artery aneurysm in von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis.
Aneurysms arising from an intercostal artery are very rare vascular malformations in von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis, which often have a silent clinical presentation and are difficult to diagnose before rupture. We report a case of von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis with massive hemothroax caused by spontaneous rupture of an intercostal artery aneurysm in a 29-year-old man. ⋯ During a 10-month follow-up period, the patient had a satisfactory recovery. This case illustrates that angiography and possible endovascular embolization should be the first strategy in managing hemothorax in patients with von Recklinghausen's disease.