[Control of anticoagulant therapy with portable prothrombin time device in patients with mechanical heart valve prostheses: two-year follow-up].

Background: Monitoring patients on oral anticoagulation is essential to prevent haemorrhage and recurrent thrombosis, but it is still difficult. We studied a group of 348 patients with mechanical heart valve prostheses to verify whether the use of a new portable prothrombin time device might improve the management of oral anticoagulant therapy.

Methods And Material: We used a new portable prothrombin time device to check the anticoagulation therapy in a group of 348 patients with mechanical heart valve prostheses to validate its results by comparing to routine I.