Abstract
We performed St. Jude Medical (SJM) prosthetic valve implantation using the Dacron cuff or the Teflon cuff, and compared the two kinds of cuffs regarding influence on postoperative acute hemolysis. Respective numbers of patients using the Dacron cuff and the Teflon cuff were as follows: 11 and 9 in mitral valve replacement (MVR); 24 and 18 in aortic valve replacement (AVR); and 8 each in double valve replacement (DVR). As regarding age and sex distribution, and pre- and postoperative hemodynamic data in each group, there was no significant differences between the Dacron and Teflon cuffs. Postoperative LDH level was found as AVR<MVR7lt;DVR. In MVR and DVR groups, the LDH level was significantly lower in cases done with the Teflon cuff than those with the Dacron cuff. The present study suggest the Teflon cuff superior to the Dacron cuff in St. Jude Medical valve implantation.
