A 31-year-old patient without the use of warfarin and with an aortic mechanical valve

Patients with metallic prosthetic heart valves have to use anticoagulants throughout their life because of avoiding prosthetic valve thrombosis. We report the case of a patient with a prosthetic aortic valve without any event to date despite not using warfarin for 31 years. A 53-year-old man who underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) with a mechanical valve (Medtronic,Inc., Minneapolis, Minesota) due to aortic valve disease 31 years ago was admitted to the cardiology department with complaints of chest pain and tiredness. In the examinations and anamneses, it was determined that the patient was followed up with acetylsalicylic acid and dipyridamole treatment without the administration of warfarin after the valve replacement. He underwent AVR in 1985 because of severe aortic stenosis. He was recommended warfarin, but he had no anticoagulation since then.