BACKGROUND The Ross procedure has become an accepted and sometimes preferred alternative to mechanical aortic valve replacement. One criticism of the Ross procedure is that it may have a higher operative mortality, morbidity, and cost. Several groups have shown that this operation can be performed safely with less than 3% mortality. The issue of higher cost has not been resolved. In this retros...

BACKGROUND An understanding of the relationship between venous valve architecture and associated fluid and solid mechanical forces will undoubtedly advance prosthesis design and treatments. The objective of the current study was to compare three valve architectures (mono-, bi-, and tricuspid) and the implications of these designs on the fluid and solid mechanics of the valve leaflets. The hypot...

INTRODUCTION Aortic heart valve dysfunction is commonly treated with replacement of the valve. To overcome the shortcomings of currently used mechanical valves, xenografts and homografts, efforts are being made to create fully autologous heart valve replacements using the concepts of tissue engineering. To this end autologous cells are seeded onto pre-shaped biodegradable scaffolds and cultured...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Although cerebral microemboli are often detected by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography in mechanical heart valve patients, the clinical significance of such microemboli is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and composition of cerebral microemboli in a prosthetic heart valve population and to correlate these findings to cerebrovascular symptoms...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of the prosthesis type on early mortality and long-term survival after re-replacement of aortic valve prosthesis, especially in patients over 60 years old. METHODS Late outcome of 223 patients who underwent a reoperation on the aortic valve and received a mechanical (mechanical group) or biological (biological group) heart valve...

The Essen site has been chosen as an alternative site for nuclear waste disposal in Belgium. The soil formation involved at this site is the same as at Mol site: Boom clay. However, owing to its geographical situation closer to the sea, Boom clay at Essen presents a pore water salinity 4-5 times higher than Boom clay at Mol. This study aims at studying the effects of pore water salinity on the ...

BACKGROUND The type of cardiac valve replacement associated with the lowest health risks for young women who may undergo pregnancies is unknown. We investigated which valve type was associated with greatest patient and valve survival and the effect of pregnancy on valve loss. METHODS AND RESULTS In this retrospective study, all women 12 to 35 years old who underwent valve replacements between...

Approximately 85,000 valve substitutes are implanted in the United States and 275,000 worldwide each year, of which approximately half are mechanical valves and half are bioprosthetic valves. Despite the marked improvements in prosthetic valve design and surgical procedures over the past decades, valve replacement is not a panacea for the patient. Instead, native valve disease is traded for pro...

Background—It is suggested that in young adults the Ross procedure results in better late patient survival compared with mechanical prosthesis implantation. We performed a propensity score–matched study that assessed late survival in young adult patients after a Ross procedure versus that after mechanical aortic valve replacement with optimal self-management anticoagulation therapy. Methods and...