title: Dabigatran, electrical cardioversion and measuring the aPTT. A safety measure or an unnecessary assessment?
abstract: We present two case reports of patients treated with dabigatran for stroke prevention. Both have non-valvular atrial fibrillation and both were scheduled for direct current electrical cardioversion (DCCV). Both had their activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) measured prior to their DCCV to assess the anticoagulant activity of dabigatran. The decision to measure the aPTT resulted in differing levels to otherwise straightforward cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Ipswich Hospital, Suffolk, Ipswich, UK. avi.rahmat@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rahmat
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000991:Antithrombins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001562:Benzimidazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000069604:Dabigatran; D004554:Electric Countershock; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010314:Partial Thromboplastin Time; D015091:beta-Alanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000991:Antithrombins; D001562:Benzimidazoles; D015091:beta-Alanine; D000069604:Dabigatran