• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.191-195
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• 1993

Among 25 consecutive cases having undergone mitral valve surgery between March 1991 and June 1992 in Gill General Hospital, 11 patients[44%] who had undergone mitral valve reconstruction using prosthetic rings is evaluated and presented. Patients` mean age is 43 + 19 years[range:16-72], and they are consisted with 4 males and 7 females. Mitral valve insufficiency is due to degenerative disease in 6 cases[55%] and rheumatic disease in 5 patients[45%]. Carpentier`s functional classification I is 2 cases, II is 6 cases, and III is 2 cases. Surgical techniques include prosthetic ring annuloplasty[11 patients, 100%], chorda shortening[6, 55%], leaflet mobilization[4,36%], new chorda formation[2, 18%], chorda transposition[1, 9%] commissurotomy[3, 27%], and papillary muscle splitting[3, 27%]. Average number of mitral anatomic lesions per patient are 2.7 and we used average 2.8 procedures upon mitral valve apparatus per patient. There were no surgical mortality and no late valve related admission during the mean follow up period of 17 months. The mean functional class[NYHA] is 2.81 preoperatively and improved to 1.10 postoperatively. Doppler echocardiography showed much improvement from grade II MR [1 case], grade III MR [1 case] and 9 cases of grade IV MR to 6 cases of patients showed no MR, only trace MR in 4 cases, and grade I MR was found only in one patient with NYHA functional class II postoperatively. The postoperative mean mitral valve area is $2.10+0.28cm^2$. We conclude that mitral reconstruction is a predictable and stable operation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.265-270
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• 1991

Since advent of the prosthetic cardiac valve replacement, much efforts for accurate assessing value function in-vivo have been attempted. To evaluate the postoperative functional and morphological status of the replaced cardiac valve prosthesis, 33 patients with valve replacement were studied by transthoracic and transesophageal 2-dimensional echocardiac imaging as well as by color Doppler flow velocity imaging. Twenty four patients had mitral valve replacement. 6 patients had aortic valve replacement and 3 patients had both mitral and aortic valve replacement. There were 34 mechanical and 2 biological prosthesis. Comparing to transthoracic echocardiography, transesophageal approach showed transvalvular regurgitant jet flow amid the prosthetic mitral valve ring during. systole and much clear visualization of cardiac chamber behind prosthesis which could give shadowing effect to ultrasound beam. According to the quantitative grading by the length and area of mitral regurgitant flow, 24 out of 27 mitral valves revealed mild degree regurgitation considered as physiological after prosthetic bileaflet valve replacement and the other 3 valves including 2 biological prosthesis had moderate degree regurgitation which was regarded as pathologic one. 2 cases of left atrial thromboses and 1 case of paravalvular leakage which were not visible by transthoracic approach were identified by transesophageal echocardiography in patients with mitral valve replacement and patients with aortic valve replacement respectively. We conclude that in patients with prosthetic mitral valve replacement, transesophageal 2-dimensional imaging with color Doppler can suggest reliable information beyond that available from the transthoracic access even though it gives patient some discomfort to proceed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.189-200
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• 1974

The mitral valve replacement with Beall prosthetic valve was performed on three patients, and double valve replacement. aortic and mitral valve, was performed in this department.1) The preoperative studies about the first case were compatible with mitral steno-insufficency.The diseased mitral valve was replaced with the medium sized Beall prosthetic valve under the cardiopulmonary hypass using hypothermic hemodilution technique. The total perfusion time was eighty minutes. Immediate postoperative course was smooth, but this patient was died of asphyxia due to tracheomalacia complicated after tracheostomy 3 months after operation. Autopsy on this patient revealed that no thrombus and no ball variance could be found, and endothelization on the valve cuff was satisfactory. 2) The preoperative studies on the second case were compatible with mitral insufficiency. The diseased mitral valve was replaced with the medium sized Beall prosthetic valve under the cardiopulmonary bypass using hypothermic hemodilution technigue. The total perfusion time was 123 minutes. This patient was discharged in good condition and follow-up study after 16 months revealed the patient had enjoyed healthy life. 3) The preoperative studies about the third case were compatible with aortic insufficiency and mitral stenoinsufficiency. The diseased valves were replaced with type 2 sutureless Magovern aortic valve and the medium sized Beall mitral prosthesis under cardiopulmonary bypass using hypothermic hemodilution technIque and coronary artery perfusion. The total perfusion time was 155 minutes. This patient was discharged in good condition, but thromboembolism was developed 2 months after discharge. 4) The preoperative studies about the fourth case were compatible with mitral insufficiency. The diseased mitral valve was replaced with the medium sized Beall prosthetic valve. The total perfusion time was 132 minutes. The atrioventricular block developed just after operation but converted to normal sinus rhythmn on the third postperative day. The preoperative NYHA functional classification IV was converted to Class 1 or 11 at the time of discharge and this patient enjoyed healthy life. Attendum; The fifth case, nineteen years old male with mital insufficiency underwent Beall valve replacement and his course was uneventful 2 weeks after operation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.223-229
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• 1987

Doppler echocardiography provides valuable information regarding prosthetic heart valve function rather than structure. There are three methods of expressing the severity of mitral valve obstruction: the transvalvular pressure gradient, effective valve area, and pressure half-time. Of these, the transvalvular pressure gradient [~p] can be determined by the measurement of maximum transvalvular blood flow velocity [V] according to the modified Bernoulli`s equation [gp=4V*]. Eleven patients, who underwent mitral valve replacement with Duromedics mechanical prostheses, and 17 normal persons were investigated. There were significantly higher calculated pressure gradients in prosthetic than normal mitral valves [9.*10*2.22mmHg-vs-3.26*0.99mmHg:p<0,01], and there was a inverse relationship between pressure gradient and prosthetic valve size [11.17*0.%mmHg in size 27mm and 29mm -v- 7.38*1.12mmHg in size 31mm and 33mm; r=0.85, p<0.01] The noninvasive Doppler technique should be useful in the diagnosis of prosthetic valve obstruction.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.419-421
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• 2021

Fracture of prosthetic valve leaflets in the absence of traumatic injury is very rare. Leaflet fracture can cause acute pulmonary edema and cardiogenic shock and is potentially life-threatening, requiring emergency surgery. Thus, a leaflet fracture must be diagnosed quickly and accurately. We present the case of a 46-year-old man with CarboMedics prosthetic aortic and mitral valve replacements implanted 24 years previously. The patient presented at our emergency department with abrupt dyspnea and fever. We diagnosed severe mitral valve regurgitation with anterior leaflet fracture. The patient underwent venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and delayed mitral valve replacement. The foreign body was removed step by step because the diagnosis was missed. Two pieces of broken leaflets were found in the left common iliac artery and left external iliac artery. The patient was treated successfully and remains asymptomatic 1 year following surgery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.655-662
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• 1985

From January 1985 to July 1985, prosthetic heart valves were replaced in 5 patients at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center. The patients included three women and two men ranging in age from 22 to 41 years. Three mitral valve replacements, one aortic valve replacement and one double valve replacement [mitral and aortic valve replacement] were done at the first valve operations. Reoperation were performed 2 to 76 months after the first operations, Prosthetic valve endocarditis occurred in 3 patients, early in one and late in two and primary valve failure occurred in 2 patients. In operative findings, vegetation in prosthetic valve endocarditis and calcification in primary valve failure were found. All except one had relatively successful operative results. One died of early fungal prosthetic valve endocarditis due to relapsed prosthetic valve endocarditis with heart failure and block.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.10-15
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• 1999

Background: Mitral valve replacement with chordal preservation in patients with mitral regurgitation has been proved to be beneficial for left ventricular function and for reduction of postoperative complication. However, in patients with mitral stenosis, the effectiveness of the technique is controversial. It is not easy to insert prosthetic valve without left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and prosthetic valve leaflet motion hinderance. Material and Method : Five patients with mitral stenosis and seven patients with mitral stenoinsufficiency underwent mitral valve replacement with preservation of mitral subvalvular apparatus. Thickened and calcified leaflets are made thin by peeling off the thickened and calcified part. Commissurotomy was done and anterior leaflet was incised 2 mm apart from the annulus and then divided into two segments. Anterolateral and posteromedial segments including strut chordae, were reattached to mitral commissural area, respectively. Result: There was no evidence of prosthetic valve dysfunction, paravalvular leakage, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, complications and operative or late deaths. Conclusion: We conclude that mitral vlave replacement with chordal preservation was safe and effective technique for the patients with mitral stenotic disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 1995

From January 1985 to December 1992, of 1257 patients who underwent a heart valve replacement 210 [16.8% underwent reoperation on prosthetic heart valves, and 6 of them had a second valve reoperation. The indications for reoperation were structural deterioration [176 cases, 81.5% , prosthetic valve endocarditis [25 cases, 11.6% , paravalvular leak [12 cases, 5.6% , valve thrombosis [2 cases, 0.9% and ascending aortic aneurysm [1 case, 0.4% . Prosthetic valve failure developed most frequently in mitral position [57.9% and prosthetic valve endocarditis and paravalvular leak developed significantly in the aortic valve [40%, 75% [P<0.02 . Mean intervals between the primary valve operation and reoperation were 105.3$\pm$28.4 months in the case of prosthetic valve failure, 61.5$\pm$38.5 months in prosthetic valve endocarditis, 26.8$\pm$31.2 months in paravalvualr leak, and 25.0$\pm$7.0 months in valve thrombosis. In bioprostheses, the intervals were in 102.0$\pm$23.9 months in the aortic valve, and 103.6$\pm$30.8 months in the mitral valve. The overall hospital mortality rate was 7.9% [17/26 : 15% in aortic valve reoperation [6/40 , 6.5% in reoperation on the mitral prostheses [9/135 and 5.7% in multiple valve replacement [2.35 . Low cardiac output syndrome was the most common cause of death [70.6% . Advanced New York Heart Association class [P=0.00298 , explant period [P=0.0031 , aortic cross-clamp time [P=0.0070 , prosthetic valve endocarditis [P=0.0101 , paravalvularr leak [P=0.0096 , and second reoperation [P=0.00036 were the independent risk factors, but age, sex, valve position and multiple valve replacement did not have any influence on operative mortality. Mean follow up period was 38.6$\pm$24.5 months and total patient follow up period was 633.3 patient year. Actuarial survival at 8 year was 97.3$\pm$3.0% and 5 year event-free survival was 80.0$\pm$13.7%. The surgical risk of reoperation on heart valve prostheses in the advanced NYHA class patients is higher, so reoperation before severe hemodynamic impairment occurs is recommended.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.858-861
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• 1994

Prosthetic valve thrombosis is rare but it is one of fatal complication after heart valve surgery. Improvements of the valve design and the material have decreased the frequency of thrombosis but have not eliminated completely. And some cases of prosthetic valve thrombosis during pregnancy were reported inspite of adequate anticoagulation therapy.Urgent surgical intervention is indicated for prosthetic valve thrombosis but it is associated with high operative risk, therefore medical thrombolytic therapy such as urokinase or streptokinase therapy is regarded as an alternative therapy. This is a case report of the successful thrombolytic therapy for valve thrombosis in a pregnant patient after mechanical mitral valve replacement.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.822-825
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• 2002

The paravalvular leak after redo mitral prosthetic valve replacement is rare but serious complication when it does happen. This condition should be corrected surgically to increase life span and improve symptoms. But simple closure or patch closure of paravalvular leak are not effective in cases of weak annulus or broad defect. We report 3 cases of trido mitral valve replacement using mechanical valve with its sewing ring expanded by a collar of Dacron sheet. The prosthetic sewing ring is anchored on the weak mitral annulus with multiple interrupted sutures, while the Dacron collar is contineuously sutured to the left atrial wall for blood tight sealing. All of the three cases showed event free postoperative course.