Why the study?
Does early intravenous heparin prevent thromboembolic complications without worsening intracerebral hematoma in patients with prosthetic heart valves?
Does early intravenous heparin prevent thromboembolic complications without worsening intracerebral hematoma in patients with prosthetic heart valves?
Early intravenous heparin may be feasible in patients with prosthetic heart valves and intracerebral hematoma, potentially preventing thromboembolism without preventing hematoma recession.
May support early heparin feasibility in prosthetic valve patients with hematoma; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective trials before practice change.
Anticoagulants are generally contraindicated in patients with intracerebral hematoma. However, in patients with prosthetic heart valves it may be dangerous to withhold such therapy because of possible thromboembolic complications. We treated four such patients with i.v. heparin starting early after the hemorrhage. The hematomas receded in all patients according to the follow-up CTs, and none had thromboembolic disorders. Three patients had good outcomes, and one remained in a persistent vegetative state after an event of acute pulmonary edema.
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Leker et al. (1998) studied this question.
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