Hemodynamic state early after prosthetic replacement of mitral valve.

PATIENTS undergoing replacement of the mitral valve appear to have somewhat less satisfactory early and late results than do those undergoing replacement of the aortic valve, in our experience." 2 Therefore studies were made of the hemodynamic state preoperatively and early postoperatively in patients in whom the Starr-Edwards prosthesis was inserted into the mitral region. The data indicate that cardiac output is generally abnormally low early after operation and suggest a relationship between this and the postoperative mortality rate. Some information was obtained relevant to the etiology of the low cardiac output early after this operation, wvhich suggests that impaired left ventricular performance contributes importantly to the low output.