Hiteshi K.C. Chauhan: Why Mechanical Valve Thrombosis Is a Systems Failure, Not Just an Anticoagulation Error

Hiteshi K.C. Chauhan, Consultant, Department of Cardiology at Fortis Healthcare, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“We’ve all experienced this incredible moment in our clinical practice.

The tragedy: In LMICs, we see this more often than we would want to.

Thank you, Rheumatic Heart Disease.

For young patients receiving a mechanical valve, lifelong anticoagulation becomes essential.

Yet a study of 552 patients with RHD and mechanical valves found that only 27% of INR measurements were therapeutic, while 61% were subtherapeutic.

By year seven, INR testing had fallen to less than once a year.

Valve thrombosis is – therefore – not simply an anticoagulation failure. It is a systems failure surrounding a lifelong therapy.

We know what works:

The real challenge is implementation.

How do we make what works accessible at scale?

Case of low-dose, slow-infusion thrombolysis courtesy of JAMA Cardiology.”

Health Hematology Hemostasis Hemostasis News Hemostasis Today Hiteshi K.C. Chauhan JAMA Cardiology Medicine rheumatic heart disease

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