Noninvasive techniques are helpful in evaluating the function of mechanical prostheses and tissue valves. Combined phonocardiography and M-mode echocardiography together with cinefluoroscopy are the most useful noninvasive techniques in differentiating normal from abnormal metallic prosthetic valve function. The intensity of the opening and closing clicks and associated murmurs will depend on t...

The authors agree with Myers et al. [1] that biodegradable materials represent a useful alternative in the management of tricuspid valve endocarditis repair. Our statement of dividing tricuspid valve repair choices in prosthetic and non-prosthetic techniques adequately sets the main cornerstones of surgical therapy: first, minimizing, as much as possible, the resulting valve regurgitation follo...

In this week’s Circulation, Webb and colleagues1 report on the use of percutaneous “valve-in-valve” rereplacement in the treatment of 24 ill patients with prosthetic valve failure under compassionate-use protocols. Ten procedures addressed the aortic valve; 7, the mitral valve; 6, the pulmonary valve; and 1, the tricuspid valve. The 30-day survival rate was 96%. Clinically, the results were exc...

Correspondence to: Professor Christian Seiler, University Hospital, Swiss Cardiovascular Center Bern, Freiburgstrasse, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland; christian. [email protected] _________________________ F or most haemodynamically relevant heart valve lesions, surgical therapy remains the treatment of choice. It has been consistently shown to provide long lasting relief of symptoms, and its s...

Approximately 86,000 Björk-Shiley convexo-concave (BSCC) heart valves were implanted from 1979 to 1984 and approximately 1% of these valves experienced failure due to fatigue of a critical valve component. Failures of this type are likely to yield a 70% mortality rate in patients. Although the BSCC valve was constructed from a material that possesses good fatigue properties continued operation ...

The number of reoperations for prosthetic valve replacement has increased in recent years due to the steady increase in life expectancy. However, reoperations are complex and require experience and skills. We report the case of a 69-year-old female with severe right heart failure who underwent tricuspid valve re-replacement 28 years after the initial tricuspid valve replacement. Cardiopulmonary...

Thrombosis is a life threatening complications of prosthetic mitral valves and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Even in presence of systemic anticoagulation prosthetic valve thrombosis has an incidence of 0.5% to 8%. Recurrent prosthetic valve thrombosis and the resulting thrombotic occlusion require re-establishment of blood flow across the valve. While surgical repair is consi...

Considerable progress has been made in recent years toward elucidating the correlation among nanoscale topography, mechanical properties, and biological behavior of cardiac valve substitutes. Porcine TriCol scaffolds are promising valve tissue engineering matrices with demonstrated self-repopulation potentiality. In order to define an in vitro model for investigating the influence of extracellu...

A 69-year-old man with a history of aortic valve disease received an aortic valve replacement in 1996. He was reoperated on 5 occasions for prosthetic valve dysfunction, paravalvular leak, and tamponade. A double thoracotomy was performed for hemothorax and infection (1 side with pleurodesis). He was referred for heart transplantation because of persistent paravalvular leak, aortic failure, and...