1984 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 37-40
The early and the late results of mitral valve replacement, knowing which is better compared the mechanical valve prostheses with porcine prostheses, were retrospectively evaluated in 92 patients receiving a Björk-Shiley (B-S) tilting disc prosthesis and 259 patients receiving a porcine bioprosthesis (P-B) between January, 1976, and December, 1982. The groups were comparable with regard to age, sex, New York Heart Association function class and valvular lesion. Operative mortality was 6.5% for the B-S and 8.5% for the P-B group (N. S.). Cumulative duration of follow up was 226 patient-years for the B-S and 672 patient-years for the P-B group. At 3 and 6 years survival were 86%, 85 % for the B-S and 85%, 85% for the P-B group (N. S.). The percentage of event freedom were 95%, 95% for the B-S and 94%, 94% for the P-B group (N. S.). Thromboembohc complications occured at an incidence of 0.4% per patient years for the B-S and 0.7% per patient years for the P-B group (N. S.). Postoperative hemodynamic data and hematological changes with both groups were not significant. From this analysis, it appears that the major advantage of the P-B over the B-S prosthesis is it use in patient in whom long-term anticoagulation is contraindicated.
