Does long-term treatment with anticoagulants prevent systemic embolism in patients with mitral valve disease not requiring immediate surgery?
Long-term anticoagulation provides protection against systemic embolism in patients with mitral valve disease not requiring immediate surgery, with acceptable risks.
Summary Over a period of 9½ years patients in East Anglia with mitral valve disease not requiring immediate surgery have been followed. There has been a high incidence of systemic embolism before the patients are referred. Long-term treatment with anticoagulants appears to offer a good degree of protection to these patients and, provided the control of the treatment is good, the risks arising from it are small and less than the risks of embolism.
Fleming et al. (Wed,) studied this question.