Evaluation of anti-XA-guided versus APTT-guided management of intravenous unfractionated heparin in patients requiring a durable ventricular assist device.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness and safety of anti-Xa-guided management versus aPTT-guided management of intravenous (IV) unfractionated heparin (UFH) in patients with a durable ventricular assist device (VAD).

Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at a single academic medical center. Patients were included if they had a durable VAD and were managed using aPTT-guided UFH management from May 2019 to May 2020 or were managed using anti-Xa-guided UFH management from May 2021 to December 2021. The primary outcome of the study was the median time to goal anticoagulation post-initiation of UFH. Secondary outcomes included the percentage of time within the therapeutic range and the incidence of thromboembolic and bleeding complications.

Results: The study included 23 patients, 12 of whom were managed using anti-Xa-guided UFH, and 11 were managed using aPTT-guided UFH. The treatment arm using anti-Xa-guided UFH demonstrated a faster time to therapeutic anticoagulation goal range with a median time of 21.3 h [IQR = 12.2-34.8] compared to 37.3 h [IQR = 41-74] in the aPTT-guided UFH treatment arm (P = 0.03). In addition, the anti-Xa-guided UFH arm had a higher percentage of time within the therapeutic range, 76 % [IQR = 64.25-96.25] compared to 53 % [IQR = 41-74] in the aPTT-guided UFH arm (P = 0.04). Both arms had no significant differences in major bleeding events (P = 0.59) or clinically relevant minor bleeding events (P = 0.60) among patients. There was no incidence of thromboembolic events in either treatment arm.

Conclusions: Based on this single-center experience, anti-Xa-guided UFH management resulted in a faster time to therapeutic anticoagulation and a longer time within the desired therapeutic range. The results suggest that anti-Xa-guided monitoring may be superior to UFH-guided monitoring in patients with a durable VAD.