Background: Left ventricular thrombus (LVT) is an important complication in the setting of systolic dysfunction, particularly after acute myocardial infarction. Current guidelines recommend the vitamin-K antagonist, warfarin, for the treatment of LVT.
Area of uncertainty and study question: The direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are being increasingly used for the management of this entity, despite lack of randomized trials in support of it or knowledge about their efficacy. We aimed to assess the frequency of use and the efficacy of DOACs in the treatment of LVT.
Data sources: We searched published articles in Google Scholar, PubMed, MEDLINE, and Embase from the introduction of DOACs in any therapy until April 2018. Reports describing patients diagnosed with LVT and who were treated with a DOAC were examined. Patient characteristics, comorbidities, pharmacologic treatments, and outcomes were collected. The primary end points of this study were thrombus resolution and time to resolution. Other end points were bleeding and thromboembolic events.
Results: Thirty articles describing 41 patients were analyzed. The most common risk factors for LVT formation were male gender, ischemic heart disease, and low ejection fraction. Most patients were treated with rivaroxaban (51.2%), followed by apixaban (26.8%) and dabigatran (22%). Patients were treated with DOAC alone (46.3%), DOAC and aspirin (12.2%), DOAC and clopidogrel (2.4%), and triple therapy (39%). Thrombus resolution success rate was 81%, 100%, and 88.9% for rivaroxaban, apixaban, and dabigatran, respectively. The median time of thrombus resolution was 40 days, 36 days, and 24 days for rivaroxaban, apixaban, and dabigatran, respectively. One nonfatal bleeding event and one stroke event were reported while on a DOAC.
Conclusions: The use of DOACs is a reasonable alternative to vitamin-K antagonists in the management of LVT.