Mechanical heart valves: 50 years of evolution.

Anti-Coagulation During Pregnancy in Women with Mechanical Heart Valves: A Prospective Study

Pregnancy Outcome with Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Method in a Woman with Prosthetic Heart Valves

There is an increased risk of thromboembolism, anticoagulant-related hemorrhage, fetal-wastage and congestive cardiac failure in pregnant women with mechanical heart valves. In order to have a good outcome, the care of such patients must necessarily be multidisciplinary and in a well- equipped centre with adequate support services .One such patient who had mechanical mitral and aortic valves re...

Fluid mechanics of artificial heart valves.

1. Artificial heart valves have been in use for over five decades to replace diseased heart valves. Since the first heart valve replacement performed with a caged-ball valve, more than 50 valve designs have been developed, differing principally in valve geometry, number of leaflets and material. To date, all artificial heart valves are plagued with complications associated with haemolysis, coag...

Aortic valve replacement in younger adults: a biological valve is not the logical choice.

Since the Veterans Affairs landmark randomized trial on heart valve replacement with mechanical vs. bioprosthetic valves reported their long-term results, guidelines for aortic valve replacement (AVR) have recommended the use of mechanical valves in patients younger than 60 years of age and the use of bioprosthetic valves in patients above the age of 65 or 70 years, depending on the European or...

Is it the time to reconsider the choice of valves for cardiac surgery: mechanical or bioprosthetic?

Valvular heart disease is a pathologic process involving one or more of the four valves (aortic, pulmonary, mitral and tricuspid) of the heart typified by stenosis or regurgitation and leading to patient symptoms. The most common causes are tissue degeneration, rheumatic fever and congenital heart diseases. Aortic valve replacement (AVR) using either mechanical or bioprosthetic (tissue) valves ...