Commissural misalignment of biological valve and autologous valve during transcatheter aortic valve replacement may affect the filling of coronary artery, reduce the feasibility of redo-aortic valve intervention and damage the valve function, which will adversely affect long-term prognosis of patients. Some studies have obtained achievement by changing the axial direction of valve and using individualized computer simulation technology to improve the alignment technology. However, there are still many unknown problems about the impact of commissural misalignment on patients, and accurate commissural alignment techniques still need to be further explored. This article systematically expounds the possible impact of commissural misalignment between biological valve and autologous valve in transcatheter aortic valve replacement, possibly effective accurate commissural alignment techniques and related research progress.
ObjectiveTo investigate the risk or protective factors for systemic embolism (SE) in patients undergoing bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement (MVR). Methods Between October 2002 and March 2013, a total of 146 patients underwent bioprosthetic MVR. There were 78 females and 68 males with mean age of 66.23±5.17 years. The primary reason of mitral valve disease was mitral valve degeneration or mitral valve leaflet prolapse in 40 patients, rheumatic heart valve disease in 101 patients, ischemic heart disease in 3 patients, infectious endocarditis in 1 patient, and mechanical peri-valvular leak in 1 patient. All patients were given anticoagulation therapy with warfarin for 3 months. Thereafter, antithrombotic medication was prescribed according to the surgeon's preference. The patients were followed up by telephone or mail for postoperative condition and SE events. ResultsSixteen (10.96%) patients developed SE events, including cerebral infarction in 13 cases, transient ischemic attack (TIA) in 2 cases and spleen infarction in 1 case. A total of 16 patients died during follow-up. The 1-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year cumulative survival rate after surgery was 95.2%, 93.6%, 92.5% and 88.3% respectively. Patients with SE events had lower rate of left atrial appendage obliteration than those without SE events (25.0% vs. 78.6%, P=0.015). Multivariate analysis showed that left atrial appendage obliteration was an independent protective factor for SE in patients undergoing bioprosthetic MVR (P=0.041). ConclusionLeft atrial appendage obliteration is a major protective factor for systemic embolism in patients undergoing bioprosthetic MVR no matter what antithrombotic medication is taken.
Surgical bioprosthetic valve in the mitral position typically degenerates in 10-15 years, when intervention is required again. In the past, redo surgical mitral valve replacement has been the only treatment choice for such patients suffering from bioprosthetic valve failure, despite the even higher risk associated with redo open-heart surgery. In recent years, transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation in the mitral position has evolved as an reasonable alternative to redo surgery for the treatment of surgical mitral bioprosthetic valve failure. Here we report an 81-year-old female patient with surgical mitral bioprosthetic valve failure, who successfully underwent valve-in-valve transcatheter mitral valve replacement via the transfemoral-transseptal approach. The procedure was successful owing to comprehensive CT imaging work-up, despite the technical challenges associated with bilateral giant atria and small left ventricle.
Objective To evaluate postoperative quality of life （QOL） of patients aged over 65 after mitral valvereplacement （MVR）. Methods Ninety patients aged over 65 undergoing MVR by the same surgical group in Departmentof Cardiovascular Surgery of Anzhen Hospital were prospectively enrolled in this study. There were 62 male and 28 femalepatients with their age of 65-76 （68.6±6.8） years. There were 55 patients with hypertension，38 patients with type 2 diabetes，and all the patients had persistent atrial fibrillation. Nottingham Healthy Profile （NHP，Part I） and Duke Activity StatuIndex （DASI） were used to evaluate preoperative and postoperative QOL. According to the choice of prosthetic heart valves they received，all the patients were divided into two groups with 45 patients in each group: biological valve group and mechanical valve group. All the patients received MVR via the interatrial groove approach under general anesthesia and cardiopulmonary bypass. Mechanical valve replacement was performed using continuous suture without preserving the posterior leaflet of the mitral valve. Biological valve replacement was performed using interrupted suture and some of the posteriorleaflet of the mitral valve was routinely preserved. Patients in both groups underwent intraoperative bilateral pulmonary vein isolation and left atrial appendage ablation using a bipolar radiofrequency ablation device. The left atrial appendage was not excised or ligated. Results Postoperative QOL of all the patients was significantly better than preoperative QOL. There was no statistical difference in NHP and DASI at the 6th month after discharge between the 2 groups. But from the 1st year after discharge，QOL of the biological valve group was significantly better than that of the mechanical valve group. At the 3rd year after discharge，NHP and DASI of the mechanical valve group was not statistically different from those at the 1st year after discharge，but NHP and DASI of the biological valve group was significantly better than those at the 1st year after discharge. Conclusions QOL of elderly patients are significantly improved after MVR. Patients who receive biologicalvalve replacement may acquire better long-term QOL than patients who receive mechanical valve replacement.
ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of mechanical and biological valves on clinical benefits of elderly patients with valvular heart disease.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 280 elderly patients with valvular heart disease treated by valve replacement between 2008 and 2014 year. The patients were divided into two groups by tendency score matching including a group A with biological valves and a group B with mechanical valves. Finally, there were 96 patients in each group. There were 43 males and 53 females at age of 64.41±6.52 years in the group A, 44 males and 52 females at age of 64.07±6.20 years in the group B.ResultsThe bleeding rate of skin and mucosa of the group B was significantly higher than that of the group A (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in mortality within 30 days after operation, all-cause mortality, re-hospitalization rate, re-valve replacement rate, combined atrial flutter/atrial fibrillation ratio, drug use, incidence of cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, new peripheral vascular embolism and visceral hemorrhage, heart function (NYHA) classification, the cumulative survival rate of all the patients during follow-up (P=0.63), or the cumulative survival rate of the patients with no thrombus/hemorrhage (P=0.75) between the two groups (P>0.05).ConclusionMechanical valve replacement and bioprosthetic valve replacement in the treatment of valvular heart disease in the elderly can achieve similar clinical benefits and both have clinical application value.
Objective To investigate the biological and biomechanical characteristics of acellular porcine aortic valve with dye mediated photo oxidation so that a new and better bioprosthetic valve materials can be obtained. Methods Thirty porcine aortic valves were divided into three groups with random number table. Acellular valves (n=10) were stabilized by dye mediated photo oxidation in dye mediated photo oxidation group; acellular valves (n=10) were stabilized by glutaraldehyde in glutaraldehyde group; and acellular valves (n=10) were acellularized only in acellular valves group. Thickness, appearance, histology, water content, shrinkage temperature, breaking strength and soluble protein level of acellular porcine aortic in three groups were tested respectively. Results There were light blue, soft, flexible and unshrinking valves in dye mediated photo oxidation group. Compared to valves in glutaraldehyde group, valves in dye mediated photo oxidation group had lighter thickness（0.26±0.09mm vs. 0.38±0.08mm，Plt;0.05）, more water content（86.30%±4.03% vs. 71.10%±3.23%，Plt;0.05）, and lower shrinkage temperature （76.30±0.70℃ vs. 87.70±0.30℃，Plt;0.05）; while these indexes had no statistically significant differences compared to those in acellular valves group. At the same time, compared to valves in acellular valves group, valves in dye mediated photo oxidation group had more breaking strength（17.33±2.65 mPa vs. 9.11±0.95 mPa，Plt;0.05） and lower soluble protein level（0.039%±0.013% vs. 0.107%±0.024%，Plt;0.05）; while these indexes had no statistically significant differences compared to those in glutaraldehyde group. Conclusion Acellular porcine aortic valve stabilized by dye mediated photo oxidation has nice biological and biomechanical characteristics.
Valve replacement is one of the way to treat valvular heart disease. Valve replacement with bioprostheses, which occurs low rate of bleeding and thromboembolism events, needs no lifelong anticoagulation. However, the life of bioprostheses is limited. Leaflet tear, leaf calcification, and artificial valve infective endocarditis may occur with using a bioprostheses These adverse events appear early to some patients who fail to achieve the expected service life of bioprostheses. This review mainly summarizes factors influencing early valve degeneration(EVD) of bioprostheses to provide suggestion in clinic.