Coagulation, fibrinolysis and platelet drop in patients undergoing transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) leads to transient platelet activation and hypercoagulation status, resulting in thrombocytopenia. AIMS: This study investigated the associations of coagulation/fibrinolysis status after transfemoral TAVI with valve type, post-TAVI thrombocytopenia, and complication of TAVI. METHODS: Thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT) and fibrin/fibrinogen degradation product (FDP) levels were measured before and 1 h, 1 day, and 2 days after TAVI. A percentage drop in platelet count (DPC) was determined from the pre- and lowest post-procedural values. RESULTS: SAPIEN 3 (S3) was implanted in 158 patients and Evolut PRO/PRO+ (Evolut) in 117. Both TAT and FDP increased after TAVI. Pre-TAVI balloon dilatation was generally performed on patients undergoing implantation with Evolut. Peak TAT was then stratified into 4 quartiles (Q1 to Q4). Of all 275 study patients, 69 patients reached ultra-hypercoagulation status (Q4). S3, TAVI without pre-balloon dilatation, DPC and bleeding complications were significantly associated with the ultra-hypercoagulation status after TAVI. TAT was significantly greater 1 h after S3 implantation than Evolut (median [IQR], 43.1 [34.1-59.6] vs. 31.0 [25.0-40.4] ng/mL; p < 0.001). In contrast, FDP levels did not differ between the two at any measurement point. The difference in DPC among the peak TAT quartiles was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The occurrence of bleeding complications was significantly higher in the group with ultra-hypercoagulation status (5.8% vs. 1.0%, p = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS: The increase in coagulation status and post-TAVI thrombocytopenia were significantly greater after S3 implantation. Ultra-hypercoagulation after TAVI was related to bleeding complications.

Novel and Efficient Method for Diagnosing Infective Endocarditis Using 16S Ribosomal RNA Gene Amplicon Sequence.

We present 2 cases that both developed infective endocarditis and underwent mitral valve replacement. In addition to positive blood culture and echocardiographic findings, such as vegetation or mitral valve perforation, the 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequence approach used was helpful for disease diagnosis. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.).