Anticoagulation and AVR

Anticoagulation and AVR

Bioprosthetic valves are preferred to mechanical valves for aortic valve replacement (AVR) in the elderly because of lack of need for anticoagulation in the long-term, but short-term anticoagulation is required. The duration of anticoagulation after valve replacement has been unclear. Now, a new study from Denmark suggests 6 months is optimal. Using the Danish National Patient Registry, more than 4000 patients who had a bioprosthetic AVR between 1997 and 2009 were identified. Rates of stroke, thromboembolic events, cardiovascular death, and bleeding were assessed along with warfarin treatment duration. Rates of events per 100 person-years in patients not treated vs those treated with warfarin for 3 months were 7 vs 2.7 for stroke, 13 vs 4 for thromboembolic events, 11.7 vs 5.4 for bleeding, and 32 vs 3.8 for cardiovascular death. The rate of cardiovascular death was 6.5 vs 2.0, favoring warfarin from 90 days to 179 days. The authors conclude that stopping warfarin within 6 months of bioprosthetic AVR surgery was associated with increased cardiovascular death. These findings challenge the current guidelines that recommend 3 months of antithrombotic treatment after AVR surgery suggesting that "patients will gain from an additional 3 months of warfarin treatment in terms of reduced cardiovascular death without risking significant increase in bleeding events" (JAMA 2012;308:2118-2125). An accompanying editorial states that this study provides important information to help clinicians understand the benefits and risks of warfarin use after bioprosthetic aortic valve implantation, but it does not address the issue of adjunctive aspirin or the role of new novel oral anticoagulants (JAMA 2012;308:2147-2148).