In this review, the anatomy and structure of the aortic valve and its prostheses are comprehensively discussed. Cardiac anatomy and function, human heart valves and their prostheses are also extensively discussed. The current status of prosthetic heart valves along with the next generation of these devices is broadly deliberated. Ather promising options such astranscatheter technologies (percut...

BACKGROUND Patients with prosthetic heart valves are a challenge to any anesthesiologist due to the risk of infective endocarditis, bleeding and thrombosis. CASE PRESENTATION We present anesthetic management of a 58-year-old Indian lady with a prosthetic (mechanical) heart valve who underwent hemireplacement arthroplasty. CONCLUSION Patients with prosthetic heart valves, especially those wi...

Bacterial endocarditis is the infection of inner lining of heart and /or heart valves. This disease is usually related to the presence of some pathogenic bacteria in mouth, digestive system or urinary tract. Most of the times, this infection happens in people with heart problems like the presence of prosthetic valves, history of previous endocarditis, some congenital heart defects and heart tra...

Patients with mechanical valve prostheses require a lifelong anticoagulant treatment. The combined use of Warfarin and low-dose aspirin appears to reduce the risk of valve thrombosis and systemic embolism at a low risk of bleeding. The management of women with prosthetic heart valves during pregnancy poses a particular challenge, as there are no available controlled clinical trials to provide g...

BACKGROUND Minimal data exist on the long-term survival of dialysis patients after cardiac valve surgery. Current practice guidelines of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on the management of patients with valvular heart disease proscribe the use of bioprosthetic (tissue) valves in hemodialysis patients. METHODS AND RESULTS Dialysis patients hospitalized...

To determine compliance with 1977 American Heart Association (AHA) recommendations for antibiotic prophylaxis (AbP) of subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE), we mailed a questionnaire to 1019 licensed dentists from Dade County, Florida. Of the 614 practicing dentists who responded, 97.7% believe that AbP prevents SBE and 94.2% always obtain a cardiac history from new patients. AbP is given to p...

Recent computational methods enabling patient-specific simulations of native and prosthetic heart valves are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on two critical components of such methods: (1) anatomically realistic finite element models for simulating the structural dynamics of heart valves; and (2) fluid structure interaction methods for simulating the performance of heart valves in a patient-specif...