An error in the CoaguChek S device results in prosthetic heart valve thrombosis

Judith M D van den Brule1, Johannes H Romkes, Marc A Brouwer

  • 1Department of Cardiology, Heart Center, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

The CoaguChek S device offers patients on oral anticoagulant treatment, a simple and fast method of direct monitoring of their international normalized ratio (INR). It is comparable with the glucose monitoring system, a fingerprick for a drop of capillary blood and some minutes to get the INR result for further anticoagulation monitoring. We present a case of tricuspid prosthetic valve thrombosis due to inadequate anticoagulation because of an error in the point-of-care device.

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