Objective To investigate the role of clinical pharmacists in warfarin therapy. Methods A total of 134 patients underwent prosthetic heart valve replacement and had warfarin for life from March 2013 to October 2013 in Fujian Medical University Union Hospital. All patients were equally divided into two groups (an intervention and a non-intervention group) crosswise by sequence. There were 67 patients in each group. The anticoagulant effects of the two groups were compared. Results There was no statistical difference in the patients' demographic information between the two groups. However, the time for the patients to reach the target international normalized ratio(INR) values for the first time (7.1±3.3 dvs. 10.5±5.0 d,P=0.000) and time of INR in the therapy range (46.3%±18.8%vs.19.0%±16.2%,P=0.000) during their hospitalization, proportion of time of under anticoagulation (47.5%±19.5%vs. 71.2%±22.9%,P=0.000), proportion of time of anticoagulation overdose (5.3%±8.2%vs. 9.9%±16.7%,P=0.002) were significantly different. While there was no statistical difference in postoperative hospitalization time between the two groups (19.9±6.6 dvs. 18.1±7.0 d,P=0.137). There were 4 patients (6.0%) with minor hemorrhage and no severe complication was found in the intervention group. There were seven patients (10.4%) with mild hemorrhage, two patients with stroke, one patient with mild pulmonary embolism, and severe complication rate of 4.5% in the non-intervention group. Conclusion With clinical pharmacists involved in the whole anticoagulation therapy progress of patients after mechanical heart valve replacement, the time to achieve the therapeutic window for the first time is effectively shorten, and the time of the INR value controlled in therapeutic range is highly improved during hospitalization time. Moreover, the patients' risk of thrombosis and bleeding is eventually reduced.
Objective To evaluate the long-term anticoagulation outcomes of target international normalized ratio (INR) 1.60 to 2.20 and weekly dosage adjustment of warfarin in patients after mechanical heart valve replacement. Methods Outpatients after mechanical heart valve replacement at least 6 months were registered continually from July 2011 to July 2016 in department of cardiothoracic surgery at Zigong No.4 People's Hospital and West China Hospital. There were 1 690 females (70.62%) and 703 males (29.38%) with a median age of 47 years, ranging from 14 to 80 years. All patients were followed up for 6-61 months. Target INR was 1.60 to 2.20 and warfarin dosage were adjusted weekly. Unexpected bleeding, thrombogenesis and thromboembolism, time in therapeutic range (TTR) and fraction of TTR (FTTR) were recorded and calculated to evaluate the outcome of anticoagulation management. Results A total of 2 393 patients with 26 521 INR values were included for data analysis. INR values varied from 0.90-8.39 (1.82±0.45) and required weekly doses of warfarin were 1.75-61.25 (21.72±7.39) mg. TTR of target INR and acceptable INR was 59.38% (1 449 514.0 days/2 441 060.0 days) and 73.57% (1 795 971.0 days/2 441 060.0 days), respectively. FTTR of target INR and acceptable INR were 50.71% (13 450 times/26 521 times), 65.25% (17 305 times/26 521 times). During the follow-up , anticoagulation-related complications included: cerebral infarction in 21 patients (complete recovery in 18 patients, physical activity disorder in 3 patients), cerebral hemorrhage in 4 patients (death in 1 patient, complete recovery in 3 patients), severe gastrointestinal bleeding in 3 patients (completely recovered) and uterine bleeding in 1 patient (surgical removal of the uterus). Conclusion Target INR 1.60–2.20 and warfarin weekly dosage adjustment for patients after mechanical heart valve replacement is reasonable and safe.
ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the effects of telemedicine on the management of warfarin therapy.MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Database (from inception to February 2020) and conducted retrospective literature searching to identify studies about the management of warfarin using telemedicine intervention techniques. R language software was used to evaluate the efficacy and safety of telemedicine on warfarin management.ResultsA total of 7 239 articles were retrieved, and 12 articles were finally included according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, totaling 8 112 patients, including 3 726 patients in the intervention group and 4 386 patients in the control group. The results of meta-analysis showed that there was a statistical difference in the accurate international normalized ratio (INR) treatment target range time ratio between the intervention group and the control group (MD=6.52, 95%CI 2.13 to 10.92, P<0.01, I2=89%). The incidence of bleeding events (RR=0.61, 95%CI 0.46 to 0.81, P=0.97, I2=0%) and the incidence of thromboembolic events (RR=0.50, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.85, P=0.63, I2=0%) were not statistically different between the two groups. ConclusionExisting evidence indicates that telemedicine management has a benefit in anticoagulant efficacy compared with conventional anticoagulant management in patients with thrombotic diseases, but there is no statistical difference in safety. Limited by the quantity and quality of the included studies, the above conclusion needs to be verified by more high-quality studies.