Prosthetic valve dysfunction in patients with mechanical heart valves: Results from the Emergency Salam Centre cohort.

Introduction: Mechanical heart valve (MHV) replacement requires long-life anticoagulation due to the risk of Prosthetic Valve Dysfunction (PVD) and cardioembolism.

Methods: We report data from a prospective observational study conducted on MHV patients in the Khartoum Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery built by 'Emergency,' an Italian Non-Governmental Organization, to evaluate the occurrence of PVD and associated risk factors.

Results: We prospectively followed 3647 patients, and 38 patients (rate 1.

Anticoagulant Therapy in Pregnant Women with Mechanical Heart Valves: Italian Federation of Centers for Diagnosis and Surveillance of the Antithrombotic Therapies (FCSA) Position Paper.

The management of anticoagulant therapy in pregnant women with mechanical heart valves (MHVs) is difficult and often challenging even for clinicians experienced in the field. These pregnancies, indeed, are burdened with higher rates of complications for both the mother and the fetus, compared to those in women without MHVs. The maternal need for an optimal anticoagulation as provided by vitamin K antagonists is counterbalanced by their teratogen effect on the embryo and fetus.

Association of sex with major bleeding risks in sub-Saharian anticoagulated patients with mechanical heart valves: A cohort study from the Khartoum Emergency Salam Centre.

Background: Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) with mechanical heart valve (MHV) replacement is common in Africa. However, MHV requires lifelong anticoagulation that could have a particular impact in women in reproductive age.

Methods: We report data of a prospective observational cohort study conducted between August 2018 and September 2019 in MHV patients in the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery built in Khartoum by Emergency, an Italian Non-Governmental Organization, to evaluate bleeding risk, its associated determinants, and the impact of lifelong anticoagulation in fertile women.

Gastrointestinal bleeding associated to aortic valve stenosis (Heyde's syndrome): a case series and literature review.

Background: The association among aortic valve stenosis, gastrointestinal bleeding, and anaemia due to arteriovenous malformations, known as Heyde's syndrome (HS), is poorly understood and controversial. Recently, acquired Type 2A von Willebrand syndrome (vWS 2A) was shown to be the most likely aetiological mechanism of anaemia.

Case Summary: We report two cases of HS in whom the percutaneous replacement of the aortic valve was resolutive for iron deficiency anaemia.