Summary
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an established treatment option
for symptomatic patients with severe aortic valvular disease who are not suitable
for conventional surgical aortic valve replacement. Despite improving experience and
techniques, ischaemic and bleeding complications after TAVI remain prevalent and impair
survival in this generally old and comorbid-rich population. Due to changing aetiology
of complications over time, antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy after TAVI should
be carefully balanced. Empirically, a dual antiplatelet strategy is generally used
after TAVI for patients without an indication for oral anticoagulation (OAC; e. g.
atrial fibrillation, mechanical mitral valve prosthesis), including aspirin and a
thienopyridine. For patients on OAC, a combination of OAC and aspirin or thienopyridine
is generally used. This review shows that current registries are unfit to directly
compare antithrombotic regimens. Small exploring studies suggest that additional clopidogrel
after TAVI only affects bleeding and not ischemic complications. However, these studies
are lack in quality in terms of Cochrane criteria. Currently, three randomised controlled
trials are recruiting to gather more knowledge about the effects of clopidogrel after
TAVI.
Keywords
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) - antithrombotic - antiplatelet - anticoagulation
- bleeding - stroke - clopidogrel