The date of the event is unknown.Therefore, the first day of the month (july 1, 2010) of the article date range was used as the occurrence date.Per the instructions for use (ifu), valve thrombosis is a potential risk associated with the use of the transcatheter heart valves (thv).Thrombosis is a rare and well-recognized complication associated with the use of bioprosthetic heart valves.Valve thrombosis is the formation of significant blood clots forming on the valve.These clots could significantly impact the functionality of the valve resulting in heart failure or thromboembolism.Anticoagulation therapy must be evaluated patient by patient.The cause for valve thrombosis is thought to result from an interaction between components of blood and the prosthesis or turbulent blood flow in and around the prosthesis.Several factors can cause development of thrombosis, including: inadequate anticoagulant therapy after valve implant, atrial fibrillation, medications, cancerous tumors, systemic diseases (e.G., systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammation and damage to various body tissues, including joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels, and brain), and reduced cardiac pumping (low ejection fraction).Thrombosis has an extremely low incidence rate in bioprosthetic heart valves.Thrombosis is a complex process triggered by the interaction between the host and the device and is highly variable among patients.Since the mechanism of thrombotic deposition on bioprosthetic heart valves is not fully understood, the cause cannot always be confirmed.At the time of this report, the information available does not reasonably suggest there was a malfunction of the edwards device or that the use or miss-use of the device caused or contributed to the event.Despite requests for information, no additional information was provided.The root cause of the event remains indeterminable.A complaint history for this type of event is reviewed against trending control limits on a monthly basis, and any excursions above the control limits are assessed and documented as part of this monthly review.No corrective or preventive actions are required.
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