I n the article by Lawley et al, “Heart Valve Prostheses in Pregnancy: Outcomes for Women and Their Infants,” which published online June 26, 2014, and appeared in the June 2014 issue of the journal (J Am Heart Assoc. 2014;3:e000953 doi: 10.1161/JAHA.114.000953), a correction is needed. In the abstract, the first sentence read, “As the prognosis of women with prosthetic heart valves improves, a...

For prosthetic heart valves the risk of infection is much higher than for native heart valves. During the course of infective endocarditis 20-40% of all patients suffer from cerebrovascular complications such as ischaemic stroke or intracerebral haemorrhage. We present the case of a 57-year-old woman who had undergone surgery to mechanically replace an aortic heart valve 11 months ago and suffe...

Almost 30 years have passed since the first successful use of an artificial heart valve for the treatment of severe valvular heart disease. Replacement of dysfunctional native heart valves with either mechanical or bioprosthetic materials has become the standard therapy for hemodynamically significant lesions with over 110,000 such procedures performed worldwide in 1988. Despite the general suc...

IN THE PAST THREE DECADES a striking change has occurred in the microbiological spectra, clinical features and natural history of infective endocarditis. Undoubtedly, the development of a host of potent antimicrobial agents and their widespread availability and, at times, indiscriminate use, have played a key role. Other important factors include the use of prosthetic heart valves, the increasi...

IN THE PAST THREE DECADES a striking change has occurred in the microbiological spectra, clinical features and natural history of infective endocarditis. Undoubtedly, the development of a host of potent antimicrobial agents and their widespread availability and, at times, indiscriminate use, have played a key role. Other important factors include the use of prosthetic heart valves, the increasi...

IN THE PAST THREE DECADES a striking change has occurred in the microbiological spectra, clinical features and natural history of infective endocarditis. Undoubtedly, the development of a host of potent antimicrobial agents and their widespread availability and, at times, indiscriminate use, have played a key role. Other important factors include the use of prosthetic heart valves, the increasi...

To determine the incidence and extent of calcification of implanted glutaraldehyde-treated porcine prosthetic heart valves, 82 valves explanted from 73 patients were examined for calcium by radiography and light microscopy. At the time of valve implantation, the patients were 21⁄4/4-76 years old. They included 15 children (patients younger than 15 years of age, mean age at time of valve implant...