Seventy-four patients with single prosthetic valves (Björk-Shiley or Starr-Edwards) in the mitral or aortic position and 18 controls with rheumatic valvar heart disease were investigated for evidence of intravascular haemolysis. Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was used as the most sensitive indicator of haemolysis. Raised concentrations were found in a third of 39 patients with Björk-Shiley p...

The evaluation of prosthetic valves can provide a unique challenge, and a thoughtful approach is required. High output states like anemia should be kept in the differential when evaluating elevated gradients across prosthetic valves. We present the case of a 69-year-old man with a Starr-Edwards prosthetic aortic valve who presented with symptoms of congestive heart failure and high transvalvula...

It is now believed that aortic insufficiency and calcific aortic stenosis must be treated with total valve replacement. Until recently this was performed with the aid of prostheses of teflon and similar materials. Even if the short-term results were promising, follow-up studies revealed a high percentage of breakdown of these prostheses (Bjork, Cullhed, and Lodin, 1963; Larson and Kirklin, 1964...

Seven patients have been described who developed a third heart sound in association with a paravalvar leak around a Starr-Edwards mitral valve prosthesis. These patients had all had the mitral valve cusps, chordae tendineae, and part of the papillary muscles excised. The presence of a third heart sound in them supports the concept of Potain (I900) that the third heart sound arises by vibrations...