title: Anticoagulation and the heart.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease is associated with a heightened risk of thrombosis that can manifest as acute myocardial infarction, cardiac death, and stroke. Similarly, valvular heart disease (which alters blood-flow dynamics) and the insertion of prosthetic materials (which stimulates localized thrombosis on foreign surfaces) are associated with platelet aggregation and thrombin-mediated bioamplification of the coagulation cascade. Physiologic principles and pathobiologic mechanisms determine the preferred means either to prevent or attenuate both thrombosis and subsequent cardiovascular events. Anticoagulant therapy in hospital- and outpatient-based settings has appropriately assumed a central role in the prevention and treatment of thrombotic disorders of the cardiovascular system. Carefully-designed clinical trials will establish safe and effective antithrombotic therapies for wide-scale implementation.
authors.affiliation: Anticoagulation Services, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants