title: Improvement of oral anticoagulation therapy by INR self-management.
abstract: Thromboembolic complications after valve replacement are significantly reduced if the INR is increased from 1.0 to 2.0. Hemorrhagic events increase exponentially with more intensive oral anticoagulation. In INR (patient) self-testing (PST), patients self-check their INR after being appropriately educated and supplied with a coagulometer. Patients contact their home physician if the actual INR tends to run outside an individually defined target INR corridor for correction. For patient self-management (PSM), subjects are trained to self-test their INR and to adjust the anticoagulant dose according to their anticoagulation state. The median difference between self-tested and laboratory-tested INRs was < 5.0%, indicating no significant differences between the two methods. PSM resulted in a significantly more stable oral anticoagulation therapy (OAT), which was the strongest predictor for a low complication rate after valve replacement surgery. Lower rates of thromboembolism (0.9 versus 3.6% per patient-year; pt-yr) and bleeding (4.5 versus 10.9% per pt-yr) (p < 0.001) were seen in PSM subjects than with conventional INR management. A switch from conventional to PSM resulted in a 30% reduction in complication rates in the German Experience with Low Intensity Anticoagulation (GELIA) study. After appropriate education and provision with a handy coagulometer, the vast majority of patients after valve replacement can self-check INRs and adjust the anticoagulant dosage accordingly. PSM results in a significantly more stable oral anticoagulation treatment and consequently in lower incidences of thromboembolic and bleeding events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Heart Center North Rhine-Westphalia, Ruhr University of Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. akohlstaedt@hdz-nrw.de
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Horstkotte
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piper
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D019934:International Normalized Ratio; D012648:Self Care; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants