[Antithrombotic therapy after surgical mitral valve repair: review of the evidence and updated proposals]

Abstract

Surgical mitral valve repair (SMVR) is performed with various techniques that involve the implantation of non-biological material, such as the prolene of the suture threads, the polytetrafluoroethylene of the neo-chordae or the prosthetic ring for the remodeling of the valve annulus, whose exposure to the bloodstream is capable of triggering the blood coagulation cascade and consequently the development of thrombotic/thromboembolic events. The indications of the literature on the use of antithrombotic drugs after SMVR are weak and not univocal given the absence of randomized data and the availability of only small observational case series, which are generally contaminated by the lack of homogeneity of the populations examined. Indeed in these studies, patients not only undergoing SMVR, but also transcatheter repair of the mitral valve or surgical implantation of a biological valve prosthesis (not only in the mitral position) are included. In addition, the indication for antithrombotic therapy, and in particular anticoagulation, is often conditioned by the concomitant presence of atrial fibrillation that either preexists or develops postoperatively. In this review, the current evidence regarding antithrombotic therapy in patients undergoing SMVR, both in the presence or absence of atrial fibrillation, is summarized and updated treatment algorithms are proposed.