Mechanical Mitral Valve Thrombosis Secondary to Tinzaparin as an Anticoagulation Bridging Strategy

For patients with mechanical heart valves, oral vitamin K antagonists effectively reduce the risk of valve thrombosis. Bridging strategies that use intravenous unfractionated heparin or subcutaneous low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) are required when reversal of anticoagulation is needed for invasive procedures or bleeding complications. There is limited data comparing anticoagulation efficacy between subtypes of LMWH and dosing regimens in this context. This report describes the case of a 45-year-old man with acute mechanical mitral valve thrombosis and suggests that the use of once daily dosing of subcutaneous tinzaparin may be an inappropriate anticoagulation bridging strategy.