OBJECTIVES Sinuses of Valsalva are important in assuring the physiological function of the aortic valve. This study evaluates short-term clinical results of the reimplantation technique for aortic valve-sparing root replacement using a new prosthesis with three separate sinuses of Valsalva (sinus prosthesis). METHODS Between February 2009 and February 2011, a total of 23 patients (20 m/3 f; m...

Valve prostheses have played an important part in the past two decades in the management of patients with valvular heart disease. However, many of the devices used in valve replacement have introduced new clinical problems. This paper deals with some of the problems associated with valve replacement, including one not previously emphasized--valve prosthesis-patient mismatch, which may cause obs...

BACKGROUND Mechanical heart valve replacement requires lifelong anticoagulant treatment. Aspirin has proved useful in further reducing thromboembolic events when added to oral anticoagulants. However, increased (gastrointestinal) bleeding was observed at the doses previously tested for this combination in heart valve prostheses. METHODS We performed a prospective randomized trial to compare t...

ccurate diagnosis of prosthetic heart valve infection has major implications on patient management and outcome. If the presence of prosthetic or periprosthetic valve endocarditis is misclassified, it can lead to delayed antibiotic or surgical intervention, which may adversely affect patient outcomes, and that is not inconsequential. Prosthetic valve endocarditis constitutes up to 30% of all cas...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to perform a multicenter, prospective investigation regarding the epidemiology, the current effectiveness of therapeutic anticoagulation, and the risk of thromboembolism in patients with valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) based on the records of the Atrial Fibrillation in Turkey: Epidemiologic Registry (AFTER) study. METHODS Patients were selected from a to...

The aortic valve operates in a complex haemodynamic environment, opening and closing over 100,000 times a day. When complications arise, such as aortic stenosis, prognosis can be very poor, leading to death within the first few years. Surgical valve replacement is currently the standard treatment for aortic stenosis. A thorough understanding of the anatomy and function of the native valve is im...

Improvements in the performance and longevity of biological valve prostheses have steadily increased their rates of implantation in recent years. Aortic bioprostheses, which are commonly used in the elderly or when the risks of anticoagulating are high, have generally been associated with low rates of long-term complications. Freedom from anticoagulation, therefore, represents the main theoreti...

Bicuspid aortic stenosis (BAS) has been excluded in clinical trials on transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) due to the presumed uneven expansion of the aortic prosthesis, leading to significant paravalvular regurgitation (PVR). There is no transcatheter heart valve (THV) commercially approved for treating BAS. The Lotus Valve System mitigates PVR by possessing an adaptive seal and bein...

The introduction of valve replacement surgery in the early 1960s has dramatically improved the outcome of patients with valvular heart disease. Approximately 90 000 valve substitutes are now implanted in the United States and 280 000 worldwide each year; approximately half are mechanical valves and half are bioprosthetic valves. Despite the marked improvements in prosthetic valve design and sur...

INTRODUCTION In vitro hydrodynamic characterization of prosthetic heart valves provides important information regarding their operation, especially if performed by noninvasive techniques of anemometry. Once velocity profiles for each valve are provided, it is possible to compare them in terms of hydrodynamic performance. In this first experimental study using laser doppler anemometry with mecha...