The management of women with mechanical heart valves during pregnancy remains difficult and controversial. The selection of prosthetic heart valve, management during pregnancy and delivery period, guidelines and anticoagulation strategy used in patients with a mechanical heart valve in China are summarized in this review.
Objective To discuss the application value in increasing the frequency of monitoring and ensuring the safety of anticoagulation therapy in patient self-monitoring (PST) and self-management (PSM) of portable coagulometer. Method This non-randomized prospective controlled study was conducted in 100 patients receiving oral warfarin anticoagulation therapy after heart valve replacement and met the inclusion criteria in our hospital between March 2013 and April 2014 year. All the patients were divided into three groups including an outpatient follow-up group(outpatient group), a self-monitoring group and a self-management group. Meanwhile, the patients in the outpatient group visited professional institutions, performed international normalized ratio (INR) testing with central lab and adjusted the dosage of orally administered warfarin by the doctors. And the other two groups performed INR testing with CoaguChek XS portable coagulometer by themselves, and the patients in the self-management group performed management by themselves. The follow-up time was 6 months. The dates of time in therapeutic range (TTR), fraction of time in therapeutic range (FTTR) and anticoagulation complications in the three groups were analyzed and compared. Results There was no significant difference in the INR results obtained from the follow-up time among the three groups (P=0.845) . TTR value of INR of the outpatient group, the self-monitoring group, and the self-management group was 45.9% (4368.0 days/9517.0 days), 61.2% (6057.0 days/9897.0 days), and 65.4% (2833.8 days/4333.0 days), respectively with a statistical difference among the three groups (P<0.001) . FTTR value of INR obtained from the outpatient group, the self-monitoring group, and the self-management group was 48.3% (99 times/205 times), 60.7% (164 times/270 times), and 64.9% (100 times/154 times) respectively. There was a statistical difference in the FTTR between the outpatient group and the self-monitoring group (P=0.007) , and also between the outpatient group and the self-monitoring group (P=0.002) . But there was no statistical difference between the self-monitoring group and the self-management group (P=0.392) . There were not any major bleeding and thrombosis complications in all study. And there was no statistical difference in the total complications, thrombosis, and bleeding complications rates between the outpatient group and the self-monitoring group, and also between the outpatient group and the self-management group (P>0.05) . Conclusions The patients receiving oral anticoagulation after heart valve replacement or their care providers were able to perform PST and PSM. The use of portable coagulometer for self-monitoring and self-management can increase the frequency of anticoagulation monitoring and achieve better INR target value control. PST and PSM could achieve higher quality of anticoagulation management and life and without increasing the risk of oral anticoagulation than the traditional monitoring method. The monitoring frequency of once a month is reasonable for the patients receiving oral anticoagulation more than half a year after heart valve replacement.