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...

A 77-year-old woman with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (aortic valve areaZ0.6 cm 2 and mean gradientZ 53 mmHg) was deemed inoperable for surgical aortic valve replacement due to a porcelain aorta, and was scheduled for transcatheter aortic valve replacement via an apical approach. A 23 mm valve was selected based on a computerized axial tomographic angiography derived area of 360 mm 2 ; va...

Calcific Aortic Valve Disease (CAVD) occurs in >2% of the population over 65 years of age and often leads to valvular stenosis that necessitates valve replacement [1]. CAVD is a pro‐ gressive disease, often manifesting first as aortic valve sclerosis and later developing into stenosis and valve dysfunction [2]. The specific molecular and cellular mechanisms of CAVD initiation and advancement ar...

OBJECTIVES For adult patients <60 years with aortic valve disease, the Ross procedure is an attractive alternative to a prosthetic aortic valve. The Ross procedure enables surgeons to achieve a haemodynamically ideal aortic valve replacement. A potential drawback may be long-term durability, which varies considerably between series. METHODS Between 1996 and 2014, 209 patients (mean age, 43 ± ...

BACKGROUND In recent years, use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement has expanded to include patients at intermediate- and low-risk cohorts. We sought to determine disease prevalence and treatment distribution including transcatheter aortic valve replacement eligibility in low-risk patients across 37 advanced economies. METHODS AND RESULTS Four systematic searches were conducted across M...

Methods A 50 years old women who had underwent aortic valve replacement (19#HPsjm) + mitral valve replacement (29#sjm) and tricuspid DeVega anuloplasty at our department, was admitted to our hospital with fever. Echocardiography confirmed vegetations on aortic and mitral valves, abscess formation in aortic root, grade IV SEK in left atrium with pulmonary artery pressure of 60-65 mmHg. With posi...

Aortic valve stenosis is the most common form of valvular heart disease in the elderly population and occurs frequently in conjunction with coronary artery disease. The standard treatment option for patients with these two conditions has been surgical aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting. The arrival of transcatheter aortic valve replacement has considerably shifted the ...

BACKGROUND The outcome of aortic valve replacement in patients with severe aortic stenosis, low transvalvular gradient, and severe left ventricular dysfunction is not well known. METHODS AND RESULTS Between 1985 and 1995, 52 patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) < or =35% and aortic stenosis with transvalvular mean gradient <30 mm Hg underwent aortic valve replacement. The mea...

In the aortic stenosis group, the left ventricular (LV) muscle mass index was a good parameter for predicting the prognosis. Associated mitral valve disease had no influence on long term survival after aortic valve replacement. In the aortic insufficiency group, associated mitral valve disease had a marked influence on the results of aortic valve replacement. In general, the aortic insufficienc...