Low socioeconomic status increases risk of bleeding after mechanical aortic valve replacement

Patients with low socioeconomic status who have undergone mechanical aortic valve replacement, AVR, have a higher risk of bleeding complications, such as fatal intracranial hemorrhage, a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet shows. The study is now published in the Journal of the American College of CardiologyJACC.

“The higher risk of bleeding complications is likely due to less well-controlled anticoagulant therapy in these patients, compared to patients with high socioeconomic status,” says Magnus Dalén, associate professor of cardiac surgery in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery. .

More than 5,900 patients included in the study

In a nationwide, population-based cohort study, researchers surveyed all adult patients who underwent mechanical AVR in Sweden between 1997 and 2018.

“Among 5,974 patients, we observed a strong association between low socioeconomic status and bleeding risk in patients who underwent mechanical AVR. lower cost and the need for strategies to optimize anticoagulant treatment in patients with a mechanical heart valve,” says Magnus Dalén.