[Microhematuris].

Whether or not atrial fibrillation is alone, if not idiopathic, is difficult to determine. The risk of embolization in lone atrial fibrillation is distinctly higher in healthy subjects over 60 years of age when the left atrium is dilated. In chronic atrial fibrillation this risk is higher than in paroxysmal fibrillation, especially within the year following the onset of the arrhythmia. In most patients anticoagulant therapy is effective in the primary or secondary prevention of embolic accidents. In subjects older than 75 aspirin given in daily doses of 325 mg seems to give similar results. The risk of antithrombosis therapy must not be underevaluated. The alternative is to maintain or restore the sinus rhythm, even at an advanced age, if the arrhythmia is recent and the left atrium is moderately dilated.

4-Hydroxycoumarins↗

PubMed1992

[Poisoning with long-acting anticoagulants].

Until last year, all rodenticides that could be marketed freely in Norway contained anticoagulants. In recent years rodenticide manufacturers have replaced warfarin by so-called "superwarfarins" as the active substances in their products. The latter are more toxic, also in a human context. One single intake can produce an anticoagulatory effect which may last for 50 to 60 days, and the intake of larger quantities over a period of time can induce the same effect for close to seven months. We describe two patients who were poisoned with bromadiolone. One of them had to be treated with vitamin K1 for six months. Reference is further made to similar casuistics described in the literature. Finally, the authors outline a recommended method of treatment.

4-Hydroxycoumarins↗