Low-dose oral anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy with St. Jude Medical heart valve prosthesis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: Since 1986, the St. Jude Medical (SJM) mechanical heart valve prosthesis has been implanted in patients at the authors' institution. We present our experience of low-dose oral anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy following SJM valve implantation. METHODS: Among 2,585 patients (mean age 40.3 +/- 13.5 years) living in a rural environment, 865 underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR), 1,231 mitral valve replacement (MVR) and 489 double valve replacement (DVR). All patients received 2.5 mg/day warfarin and a combination of antiaggregation therapy (dypridamole 3 x 75 mg/day plus aspirin 100 mg/day), irrespective of their prothrombin time and cardiac rhythm. RESULTS: Postoperatively, 139 adverse events occurred (51 in AVR patients, 58 in MVR, 30 in DVR). Operative mortality rate was 5.9%, 4.7% and 6.1%, respectively, in the three groups (overall mortality rate 5.4%). The most frequent cause of operative mortality was low cardiac output. During follow up, there were 88 anticoagulant hemorrhages (1.2%/patient-year (pt-yr)), 11 paravalvular leaks (0.2%/pt-yr), 52 thromboembolisms (0.7%/pt-yr), 60 mechanical valve thromboses (0.8%/pt-yr) and 78 reoperations (1.1%/pt-yr). These complications occurred in 101 patients after AVR, in 125 after MVR, and in 63 after DVR (4.2%, 3.7% and 4.6% per pt-yr, respectively). Patient age (p = 0.0004), concomitant surgery (p = 0.0017) and late valve-related complications (p = 0.0159) were statistically significant mortality factors after AVR. Previous surgery was a significant risk factor for operative mortality after MVR (p <0.05). Female gender (p = 0.0059) and age (p = 0.017) were significant risk factors for operative mortality after DVR (p <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Following implantation of the St. Jude Medical mechanical heart valve prosthesis, a fixed dose of 2.5 mg/day warfarin and combined dipyridamole/aspirin provided satisfactory results in terms of thrombosis, embolism and bleeding.