RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) have been increasingly used in the treatment of end-stage heart failure. While warfarin has been uniformly recommended in the long-term as anticoagulation strategy, no clear recommendation exists for the post-operative period. We sought to evaluate the feasibility of enoxaparin in the immediate and early postoperative period after LVAD implantation. METHODS: This is a two-center, retrospective analysis of 250 consecutive patients undergoing LVAD implantation between January 2017 and December 2018. Patients were bridged postoperatively to therapeutic INR by either receiving unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). Patients were followed while inpatient and for 3 months after LVAD implantation. The efficacy outcome was occurrence of first and subsequent cerebrovascular accident while safety outcome was the occurrence of bleeding events. Length of stay (LOS) was also assessed. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty and 246 patients were analyzed for index admission and 3-month follow up respectively. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in CVA (OR = 0.67; CI = 0.07-6.39, P = 0.73) or bleeding events (OR = 0.91; CI = 0.27-3.04, P = 0.88) during index admission. Similarly, there were no differences at 3 months in either CVAs or bleeding events (OR = 0.85; 0.31-2.34; p = 0.76). No fatal events occurred during the study follow-up period. Median LOS was significantly lower (4 days; p = 0.03) in the LMWH group. CONCLUSIONS: LMWH in the immediate and early postoperative period after LVAD implantation appears to be a concurrently safe and efficacious option allowing earlier postoperative discharge and avoidance of recurrent hospitalizations due to sub-therapeutic INR.
Assuntos
Anticoagulantes/uso terapêutico , Enoxaparina/uso terapêutico , Insuficiência Cardíaca/terapia , Coração Auxiliar , Heparina de Baixo Peso Molecular/uso terapêutico , Heparina/uso terapêutico , Anticoagulantes/administração & dosagem , Esquema de Medicação , Enoxaparina/administração & dosagem , Feminino , Heparina/administração & dosagem , Heparina de Baixo Peso Molecular/administração & dosagem , Humanos , Indiana , Coeficiente Internacional Normatizado , Kansas , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Período Pós-Operatório , Estudos RetrospectivosRESUMO
Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) continues to remain the gold standard for surveillance of rejection post orthotropic heart transplantation (OHT). It can be performed under fluoroscopic or echocardiographic guidance. In the hands of an experienced operator, the complications of EMB are uncommon with <1% chance of any serious acute complications. Most common complications of EMB include access site-related complications, namely, venous thrombosis, carotid cannulation, hematoma, air embolism, and pneumothorax. We present a case of a rare complication of EMB in a patient with OHT causing a coronary sinus to right coronary artery (RCA) fistula.