Transcatheter aortic valve implantation is being established as an alternative treatment for some patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis who are not considered suitable for surgical aortic valve replacement because of prohibitive surgical risk.1–3 One of the potential complications is complete atrioventricular block requiring definitive pacemaker implantation. This complication occurs...

Paravalvular aortic regurgitation (AR) negatively affects prognosis following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). As transcatheter heart valves (THV) are anchored using a certain degree of oversizing at the level of the aortic annulus, incomplete stent frame expansion because of heavily annular calcifications, suboptimal placement of the prosthesis, and/or annulus-prosthesis size-mis...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to evaluate the feasibility of minimally invasive transapical repeat valve-in-a-valve (VinV) implantation. BACKGROUND Reoperative heart valve replacement for degenerated xenografts is associated with an increased surgical risk. METHODS Conventional Carpentier Edwards porcine aortic (n = 5) and mitral (n = 2) valve prostheses were implanted in 7 pigs. Transapical...

Recently, there have been more reports of cardiac valve infections due to the increasing number of intravenous (IV) drug abusers and chronic renal failure patients. Among cardiac valves, tricuspid valve is most commonly affected in the course of endocarditis. Appropriate management of these patients is a challenging and controversial issue in the field of cardiac surgery. Treatment options in s...

A 73-year old woman who had previous mechanical mitral valve replacement (MVR) presented with worsening symptoms of dyspnea. Echocardiographic evaluation revealed severe aortic stenosis with calcified trileaflet aortic valve (aortic valve area was 0.9 cm2, mean gradient was 42 mm Hg with 45% ejection fraction). Society of Thoracic Surgeons score of the patient was 8.9%, mean logistic European s...

BACKGROUND Optimal transcatheter aortic valve (TAVI) results require accurate valve positioning, including anatomically correct orientation and secure fixation within the aortic annulus, thereby potentially decreasing paravalvular regurgitation. The new Engager (Medtronic 3F Therapeutics, Santa Ana, CA) transapical valve system captures the native leaflets for sealing and allows for tactile fee...

INTRODUCTION Patients with congenital heart disease who underwent pulmonary valvotomy or surgery to open the pulmonary valve ring are prone to develop residual pulmonary insufficiency or stenosis that may lead to right heart failure with clinical deterioration. These children require multiple interventions throughout their lives, which impose a high rate of morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE ...

BACKGROUND Transcatheter aortic valve implantation has become an accepted treatment modality for inoperable or high-risk surgical patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. CASE PRESENTATION We report the case of a 70-year-old white man who was treated for severe symptomatic aortic regurgitation using transcatheter aortic valve implantation from the apical approach. Because of recurren...

BACKGROUND We aimed to determine the possible factors leading to re-operation in patients undergoing mechanical valve replacement and to investigate the relationship between valvular thrombus formation and mean platelet volume. METHODS The medical records of 43 patients with mechanical valve implantation, who were admitted to the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of Dr Siyami Ersek Thoraci...

BACKGROUND Current heart valve prostheses are constructed mimicking the native aortic valve. Special hemodynamic characteristics of the mitral valve such as a nonaxial central inflow with creation of a left ventricular vortex have so far not been taken into account. A new polycarbonaturethane (PCU) bileaflet heart valve prosthesis with special design for the mitral position is introduced, and r...