Does mitral valve repair and bioprosthetic replacement without postoperative anticoagulation increase the risk of stroke or mortality?
Despite current guidelines recommending postoperative anticoagulation following MVRR or bioprosthetic replacement, the avoidance of warfarin does not increase perioperative complications and has no impact on intermediate survival. Accordingly, a prospective randomized study to adjudicate the role of extended warfarin thromboprophylaxis in mitral valve surgery is warranted.
Our results show that contrast enhancement of the liver during CTAP is altered significantly in patients with cirrhosis. Thus, it is likely that CTAP has limited usefulness for the detection or characterization of hepatic neoplasms in patients with cirrhosis.