surgery for heart diseases during pregnancy, especially necessitating cardiopulmonary bypass, is believed to trigger maternal and fetal risks and should be performed only when medical therapy has been unsuccessful to alleviate the cardiac decompensation. a 33-year-old pregnant woman in her 33rd week of gestation was admitted to our hospital. she had rheumatic mitral valvular stenosis and had un...

Valvular heart disease is a major public health issue. The prevalence of valvular heart disease is expected to increase due to an aging population. Valve dysfunction manifests as valve stenosis, regurgitation, or both, due to various etiologies. Valve repair and replacement are the main treatment options for severe valve dysfunction. Valve replacement is achieved by using either a mechanical or...

introduction fungal prosthetic valve endocarditis (pve) is rare but serious complication of valve replacement surgery. candida species, particularly candida albicans is the most common isolated pathogen in fungal pve (1–6%of cases). case presentation we describe a 35-year-old woman who underwent mechanical mitral valve replacement about 3 years ago. she was admitted with neurological symptoms a...

introduction cerebral haemorrhage could complicate post operative course after cardiac surgery, especially after multiple mechanical valves replacement needing for anticoagulation. the interruption of vitamin k antagonists in this cases, to avoid the enhancement of the cerebral haemorrhage, can be performed with reasonable safety. case presentation we report the case of a patient who underwent ...

OBJECTIVE Neurocognitive deficit is an important complication in patients undergoing open heart surgery. The aim of this prospective, contemporary study was to objectively measure neurocognitive brain function following mechanical mitral valve replacement and mitral valve repair. METHODS Forty consecutive, unselected patients (mechanical valve replacement n=20, mean age 65+/-14; valve repair ...

BACKGROUND Mechanical valves and bioprostheses are widely used for aortic valve replacement. Though previous randomised studies indicate that there is no important difference in outcome after implantation with either type of valve, knowledge of outcomes after aortic valve replacement is incomplete. OBJECTIVE To predict age and sex specific outcomes of patients after aortic valve replacement w...

OBJECTIVE Surgery remains the primary form of treatment for infective endocarditis (IE). However, it is not clear what type of prosthetic valve provides a better prognosis. We conducted a meta-analysis to compare the prognosis of infective endocarditis treated with biological valves to cases treated with mechanical valves. METHODS Pubmed, Embase and Cochrane databases were searched from Janua...

We describe herein a case of bioprosthetic valve malfunction, which closely imitates a stuck valve. Although the term "stuck" was used originally for the immovable mechanical valve leaflets, the echocardiographic manifestation of this malfunction is similar to those of a mechanical one. The clinical presentation of the stuck bioprosthesis is, however, far more benign than a stuck mechanical val...