The endless quest for an ideal bioprosthetic valve

Transcatheter Valve-in-Valve Implantation for Failing Bioprosthetic Triscupid Valves: Completing the Quest.

1537 Over the past decade, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has established itself as an important alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis who have a high or prohibitive surgical risk. The success of this breakthrough technology was propelled by data from several randomized, controlled trials and large registries. During...

Quest for an ideal intubating device.

Bioprosthetic Mitral Valve Regurgitation

The usefulness of two-dimensional color-Doppler flow-imaging (2D Doppler) in the detection, localization, and quantitation of bioprosthetic mitral valve regurgitation is uncertain. Mitral bioprostheses, before and after the creation of transvalvular (n = 33), paravalvular (n = 17), or combined (n = 23) defects, were mounted in a pulsed duplication system (flow rates, 2.5-6.5 1/min; pulse rate, ...

Islet transplantation: the quest for an ideal source.

The progress of islet transplantation as a new therapy for patients with diabetes mellitus depends directly upon the development of efficient and practical immunoisolation methods for the supply of sufficient quantities of islet cells. Without these methods, large scale clinical application of this therapy would be impossible. Two eras of advances can be identified in the development of islet t...

Balloon Valvuloplasty for Bioprosthetic Tricuspid Valve Stenosis

A 73-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for a scheduled percutaneous transcatheter balloon valvuloplasty of a stenotic tricuspid bioprosthesis. The patient had a history consistent with exertional dyspnea, abdominal distension, and edema of the lower extremities resistant to diuretic treatment over the previous few months. Forty-three years prior, she underwent aortic valve replacement...