FREQUENCY OF ACHIEVING TARGET INR IN PATIENTS WITH PROSTHETIC HEART VALVES

Abstract

Objective: To assess the frequency of achieving target International Normalization Ratio (INR) in patients with mechanical prosthetic heart valves. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional observational study, in which patients with mechanical prosthetic heart valves implanted at least a month ago, attending outpatient department of National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease from August 2010 to December 2010 were included. All patients were interviewed for their basic demographics, type of valve implanted and their INR in last six months. Results: A total of 85 patients were enrolled with 51 (60%) females with mean age of 36 years and 34 (40%) males with mean age 40 years .Valve replaced was mitral in 68(80%), aortic in 10 (11.8%) and both mitral and aortic in 7 (8.2%) patients. The INR of only 27(31.85) patients were found within target, set according to recent guidelines, while 49(57.6%) were below and 09(10.6%) were above the target. Conclusion: Majority of patients with prosthetic heart valves are under coagulated. New strategies are needed to address this important issue.