Outcome of mechanical heart valve replacement in children: A 20-Year Experience

Method The medical records of 42 patients (20 male, 47.6 %) who underwent 59 mechanical valve replacements between March 1992 and February 2014 were reviewed, retrospectively. Median age of the patients was 11.0 years (range, 9.1 months to 17.6 years) and 15 patients (25.4%) were less than 5 years. Congenital valve disease was the most common diagnosis (n = 16, 27.6%). Mitral valve replacement was performed in 39 patients, followed by aortic valve in 12 patients, pulmonic valve in five patients. Double valve replacements were performed in two patients. Mechanical valve was used in 51 cases (83.6%). The median valve size was 23 mm (range, 16 to 33 mm), and the median follow-up duration after valve replacement was 6.0 years (range, 15 days to 21.7 years). Events were defined as the following: thrombosis, embolism, bleeding, reoperation, and death.