IMR Press / RCM / Volume 23 / Issue 9 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm2309312
Open Access Original Research
Direct Oral Anticoagulants versus Vitamin K Antagonists for the Treatment of Left Ventricular Thrombosis: A Meta-Analysis
Show Less
1 Intensive Care Unit, Tianjin Chest Hospital, 300222 Tianjin, China
2 Department of Cardiology, Tianjin Chest Hospital, 300222 Tianjin, China
*Correspondence: zhenhuad7@163.com (Zhenhua Wu)
Academic Editor: Jerome L. Fleg
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2022, 23(9), 312; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2309312
Submitted: 28 February 2022 | Revised: 26 April 2022 | Accepted: 7 June 2022 | Published: 13 September 2022
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) have been recommended as first-line anticoagulants for patients with left ventricular thrombosis (LVT). Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are used as an alternative to the standard of care in anticoagulation. The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy and safety of VKAs and DOACs in the treatment of patients with LVT. Materials and Methods: Studies were identified by searching the PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. The main outcomes included stroke or systemic embolism (SSE), thrombus resolution, and bleeding events. The pooled risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was estimated with fixed effect or random effect models. Results: Seventeen studies were included. Pooled estimate showed that DOACs had comparable efficacy in prevention of SSE (RR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.80, 1.16; p = 0.677) and thrombus resolution as compared with VKAs (RR = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.18; p = 0.193). DOACs significantly decreased the risk of stroke in patients with LVT (RR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.47, 1.00; p = 0.048). However, this effect was not observed in the sensitive analysis by high-quality studies (RR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.47, 1.02; p = 0.06). In terms of safety outcomes, DOACs had similar risk of bleeding events (RR = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.80, 1.57; p = 0.386) and clinically relevant bleeding events (RR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.23, 1.03; p = 0.060). Meta-regression analysis demonstrated that none of the variables (study design, concomitant antiplatelet medication, duration of follow-up, primary cause of LVT, sample size, types of DOACs) had an impact on the risk of SSE, thrombus resolution and bleeding events. Subgroup analysis based on the use of antiplatelet and treatment switching revealed that there were no significant differences among patients with different treatment regimens. Conclusions: Based on the present evidence, both DOACs and VKA offered similar effective and safe outcomes in patients with LVT.

Keywords
vitamin K antagonists
left ventricular thrombosis
direct oral anticoagulants
meta-analysis
Funding
MS20016/General Program of Tianjin Health Committee
Figures
Fig. 1.
Share
Back to top