Mitral valve disease, systemic embolism and anticoagulants.

Over a period of 9½ years patients in East Anglia with mitral valve disease not requiring immediate surgery have been followed. There has been a high incidence of systemic embolism before the patients are referred. Long-term treatment with anticoagulants appears to offer a good degree of protection to these patients and, provided the control of the treatment is good, the risks arising from it are small and less than the risks of embolism.