Does a mechanical valve compared to a bioprosthetic valve improve survival in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement?
The optimal choice between mechanical and bioprosthetic aortic valves for survival depends on patient age, favoring mechanical valves for ages 50-70 and bioprosthetic valves for ages >70.
Survival rates seem to not be influenced by the type of prosthesis in patients 70 years old bioprosthetic valves offer better survival outcomes.
Tasoudis et al. (Mon,) studied this question.