Abstract
Rest and exercise hemodynamics studies of 21mm SJM valves in aortic position were evaluated by continuous wave Doppler echocardiography. Eighteen patients were subjects after AVR with 21mm SJM valve in recent 3 years. Aortic peak pressure gradient(APG), aortic mean pressure gradient(AMG) increased significantly on exercise (from 32.9mmHg, 16.3mmHg to 44.6mmlg, 22.8mmHg), however, effective orifice area(EOA) showed no change (from 1.04cm2 to 1.08cm2). On exercise, four patients had APG more than 50mmHg. One of them associated with paravalvular leakage. The other three patients were considered as relative valve prosthesis-patient mismatch. EDE is useful and reliable to evaluate prosthetic valve function in aortic position.
