BACKGROUND We present a case of redo aortic valve replacement in a patient with thrombocytopenia. The initial operation was performed through limited access transverse sternotomy. This is the first report of this kind in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION A 62 year old Caucasian male farmer with thrombocytopenia had uneventful redo aortic valve replacement when the first xenograft failed after...

Mechanical prosthesis is the first choice for valve replacement at the mitral position in children. Replacement of the original prosthesis because of prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) is almost inevitable when prostheses are implanted in small children. The impact of PPM on long-term mortality becomes significant when the effective orifice area (EOA) is severely reduced. In these cases prosthes...

We describe the case of a 69 year-old woman with a dilated ascending aorta, who presented with aortic valve regurgitation due to a quadricuspid aortic valve (QAV). There are only a few reports in the literature describing aortic replacement and subsequent aortic valve replacement for a malfunctioning QAV. We discuss the pathogenesis of the dilated ascending aorta in this patient and the indicat...

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) is performed in patients who are poor surgical candidates. Many patients have inadequate femoral access, and alternative access sites have been used such as the transapical approach discussed in this paper. We present an elderly and fragile patient not suitable for surgery for unacceptable high risk, including poor ventricular function, previous myo...

s of the studies obtained were screened for those that examined outcomes following aortic valve replacement. References in these reports were cross checked for other relevant studies. This resulted in 76 published reports for mechanical valves and 68 for bioprostheses. The following criteria for each valve type were then stipulated in order to obtain homogeneous groups of studies: N Valves 19–3...

The fate is described of 11 patients who had a stored pulmonary valve homograft mounted on a frame or in a Dacron jacket used for mitral valve replacement. Mitral regurgitation due to holes in the attenuated cusps occurred in nine by one year, requiring re-operation or causing death. Only one patient remains well with moderate mitral regurgitation after two years. Since January 1967, 118 patien...

Patients with native valve endocarditis treated surgically between 1968 and 1978 (n = 15) and all patients presenting with prosthetic valve endocarditis during this period (n = 21) were followed up for at least four years. Five of the patients with native valve endocarditis required urgent early surgical intervention, of whom two died. The remaining 10 underwent valve replacement after a course...

OBJECTIVES We describe procedural and clinical outcomes in a high-risk cohort undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement with early next-generation transcatheter valve and delivery systems. BACKGROUND Percutaneous aortic valve replacement is gaining acceptance as a viable option in patients at high surgical risk. Broader application will require further advances in valve and delivery s...

BACKGROUND Between June 1968 and March 1977, Starr-Edwards cloth-covered ball valves were used for valve replacement on a routine basis. METHODS AND RESULTS Among the 66 operative survivors who underwent an isolated aortic or mitral valve replacement, 20 patients required reoperation 22 times because of valve dysfunction, thromboembolic complication, paravalvular leakage, hemolytic anemia, an...