I read with interest the article by Kurazumi and colleagues about mitral valve replacement for a severely calcified annulus [1]. I congratulate the authors for their excellent results and simple technique to overcome this difficult problem. My only concern is about the valve size of 21 mm in the mitral position producing about 2 cm mitral valve area. This might be marginal for small-body-weight...

Transcatheter aortic valves implantation (TAVI) is a valid treatment for high-risk surgical candidates with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis; the safety and effectiveness of TAVI have been demonstrated in numerous clinical studies, national registries and randomized trials. Nevertheless, from this cohort of patients have been often excluded patients with prior mitral valve surgery because con...

A46-year-old man presented with a 48-hour history of fevers, sweats, and dyspnea. He had bacterial endocarditis of the native mitral valve 12 years earlier with subsequent mitral valve replacement (MVR) with a Hancock II porcine valve (Medtronic Inc). Examination revealed a Grade 3/6 holosystolic murmur at the apex radiating into the axilla with crackles heard halfway up both lung fields. A dia...

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 The St Jude Medical Inc (St Paul, Minn) Trifecta valve is a novel aortic biological prosthesis that incorporates several design features, including a true supra-annular sewing cuff, a stent design that maximizes valve hemodynamics while minimizing leaflet stresses, and an ethanol-based anticalcification technology. This study establishes the safety and early clinical and hemodynamic ...