Treatment of obstructive thrombosed prosthetic heart valve.

Obstructive thrombosed prosthetic heart valve (OTPHV) is a serious complication of heart valve replacement. There are no generally accepted criteria for management of these patients. Therefore, in September 2012, a literature survey of studies published after 1995 was performed to analyze the data regarding clinical outcomes of patients with OTPHV treated with thrombolytic agents and with surgery since 1996. The search yielded appropriate and relevant studies, which included 17 studies comprising 756 patients who had received thrombolytic therapy and 13 studies comprising 662 patients who had received surgery. The data on these 2 groups was analyzed in detail relating to frequency of use of the diagnostic studies, baseline patient data, and on the rate of complete success, outcomes, and complications of the therapy they had received, and the limitations of the studies. We have then developed a strategy for therapy of OTPHV.