Porcine heart-valve replacement demonstrates an 80% actuarial survival at eight years, though thromboembolic events and valve dysfunction remain notable long-term risks.
To evaluate the clinical course after porcine heart-valve replacement, we followed 128 patients for five to eight years after surgery. Aortic-valve replacement was performed in 47 patients, mitral-valve replacement in 62, and combined aortic-valve and mitral-valve replacement in 19. Four patients died within 30 days of surgery (operative mortality, 3 per cent), and 20 died later (16 per cent); the actuarial probability of survival at eight years for all patients was 80 +/- 4 per cent (mean +/- S.E.M.). Thromboemboli were found in two of 43 patients after aortic-valve replacement, in nine of 62 after mitral-valve replacement, and in four of 18 after combined aortic-valve and mitral-valve replacement. Valve dysfunction resulted from bacterial endocarditis in five patients (4 per cent) and from primary valve dysfunction in another five.
Cohn et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: