ABSTRACT
In patients undergoing mitral valve repair (MVre), a 3-month course of anticoagulation is currently recommended. The role of the non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants has here been scarcely studied. In the present mixed cohort study, the safety and efficacy of rivaroxaban (prospective analysis) were compared with those of warfarin (retrospective analysis) in patients undergoing MVre. Anticoagulation therapy was continued for at least 3 months, and the patients were followed for 1 year following surgery. The present study recruited 736 patients undergoing MVre with or without concomitant coronary artery bypass or surgical repair on the other valves. Concomitant valvular replacement and severe chronic kidney diseases were the most important exclusion criteria. The final analysis was conducted on 153 patients treated with rivaroxaban and 144 patients treated with warfarin. Dissimilarities in baseline characteristics necessitated propensity score matching, in which 104 patients in each group were compared. No major bleeding or cerebrovascular accident occurred during the 1-year follow-up. Clinically relevant non-major bleeding was reported in 2 patients in the rivaroxaban group and 4 patients in the warfarin group, a difference non-statistically significant before and after propensity score matching (P = 0.371 and P = 0.407, respectively). The type of anticoagulation did not predict the 1-year outcome (HR 2.165, 95% CI 0.376 to 12.460; P = 0.387). In this mixed cohort study, rivaroxaban was both safe and efficient in patients with MVre. Such preliminary results should prompt larger randomized controlled trials.