Supplementary material (Videos 1 and 2) is available at EJCTS online. Video 1: Transoesophageal echocardiography showing a blockade of one of the leaflets of the mitral valve prosthesis due to a giant pannus formation with a resulting stenosis and insufficiency. Video 2: Fluoroscopy of aortic valve (top) and mitral valve (bottom) prostheses. There is an almost normal motion amplitude of one lea...

Structural analysis, especially the thickness effect on the structural strength, of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve prosthesis with curved leaflets is presented in this paper. Taking the wide variations of the blood flow pressure on the leaflet surface, the structural stresses inside the leaflet and deflections of the leaflet are investigated by adopting both linear and nonlinear structural ...

This report describes a 15-month-old child without particular heart problems, presenting prolonged high-grade fever, an impaired level of consciousness, right hemiparesis and cutaneous lesion on admission. Medication was started according to the initial diagnosis of bacterial or viral meningitis, however, congestive heart failure was suddenly observed 15 days after the admission. Echocardiograp...

BACKGROUND From October 1977 to October 2002, 4,480 patients (age range, 17 to 94 years; average, 64 +/- 13 years) underwent single valve replacement with the St. Jude Medical heart valve. Of 2,982 aortic (AVR) and 1,498 mitral valve replacements (MVR), concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting was performed on 42% and 33%, respectively. METHODS Cardiac Surgical Associates has maintained an...

AIM Although warfarin remains important despite the widespread use of nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs), to date, the reality of warfarin use in the "NOACs era" is unclear. This multicenter observational study aimed to clarify the key factors contributing to warfarin treatment stability. METHODS The practical use of warfarin, stability of warfarin therapy, and factors contri...

OBJECTIVES We sought to compare the maternal and fetal outcomes of patients with severe mitral stenosis submitted to percutaneous balloon dilation versus open mitral valve commissurotomy (MVC) during pregnancy. BACKGROUND Heart failure in patients with mitral stenosis complicating pregnancy is a common problem in developing countries. Since 1984, percutaneous dilation of the mitral valve usin...

The results of experimental researches hydrodynamic noise generated by a jet flow through the mechanical bileaflet mitral valve prosthesis Italian company Sorin are given. Physical simulation was carried out in laboratory conditions on model left atrial chamber and ventricular heart. artificial increased with increasing water flow. It found that greatest intensity its spectral components observ...