As a dreadful complication after the mechanical heart valve replacement, prosthetic valve obstruction caused by pannus formation occurs increasingly with time. The authors here present a case of 42-year-old woman who was urgently admitted to hospital with acute heart failure symptoms due to the mechanical mitral valve failure only 3 months after surgery. Transthoracic and transesophageal echoca...

While repair of the native valve tissue is recommended in nearly all cases, it is often avoided in lieu of simpler but less effective valve replacement, where native tissue is supplanted with a bioor mechanical prosthetic. This results in significant increases in patient morbidities [1]. There is a strong correlation between repair rate and surgeon experience, with more experienced surgeons sho...

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 ...

Gaasch WH, Lytle BW, Nishimura RA, O’Gara PT, O’Rourke RA, Otto CM, Shah PM, Shanewise JS. ACC/AHA 2006 guidelines for the management of patients with valvular heart disease. Circulation 2006;114:84–231. 5. Bodnar E. The Medtronic Parallel (TM) valve and the lessons learned. J Heart Valve Dis 1996;5:572–573. 6. Van Nooten GJ, Van Belleghem Y, Caes F, François K, Van Overbeke H, Bové T, Taeymans...

BACKGROUND We have used the Starr-Edwards ball (S-E) valve since 1963, the St. Jude Medical (SJM) valve since 1978, and the ATS valve, since 1993 as the first choice of mechanical valve. In this study, the results with each valve during the 40 years were investigated in single mitral valve replacement (MVR) cases. PATIENTS AND METHODS The mean age for S-E valves was 32.8+/-11.1 years old (y.o...

SEE PAGE 2858 T he perfect heart valve substitute has not yet been developed and matching the patient to existing options to optimize survival and reduce valve-related complications remains challenging. The choices for aortic valve replacement (AVR) are mechanical valves, bioprosthetic valves, and biological valves such as aortic valve homograft and the Ross procedure (pulmonary autograft). The...

BACKGROUND Intermittent stuck valve after mechanical valve replacement surgery is a very rare and severe complication. CASE SUMMARY We present 1 case of a 53-year-old woman after aortic valve replacement for severe aortic valve stenosis combined with hypertrophy septum. She was diagnosed with intermittent stuck valve only 1 day after surgery by clinical symptoms, intraoperative transoesophage...

BACKGROUND Valvular heart disease has been a significant cause of heart disease worldwide. In Ethiopia, it particularly affects young individuals and constitutes the major cause of cardiovascular disease. Factors associated with choice of treatment for advanced valvular heart disease are variable. The objective of this study is to review surgery done for Ethiopian patients with valvular heart d...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess mechanical valve function using 64-slice multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). SUBJECTS AND METHODS In 20 patients (mean age, 50+/-12 years; male-to-female ratio, 10:10), 30 St. Jude bileaflet mechanical valves (15 aortic and 15 mitral valves) were evaluated using MDCT. We selected images vertical and parallel to the mechanical...

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY In-vitro studies on the ATS heart valve have indicated that valve opening is less in an expanding conduit than in a straight conduit. METHODS Bileaflet valve behavior was studied using a new computational fluid-structure interaction model. A three-dimensional model of the ATS valve was studied in two geometries, simulating the valve in a geometry with sudden ex...