Pre- and Postoperative Clinical and Haemodynamic Results after Prosthetic Replacement of Cardiac Valves

A clinical and haemodynamic follow-up study was performed on 27 patients after cardiac operations with insertion of prosthetic mitral or mitral and aortic valves. The functional capacity improved postoperatively in 25 patients. The pulmonary wedge position and pulmonary artery pressures at rest were significantly reduced postoperatively, just as the pulmonary artery pressure during exercise was significantly lower at the follow-up. The postoperative heart size was also smaller, whereas cardiac index and pulmonary vascular resistance did not show any significant changes. Only a few of the patients obtained complete normalization of the haemodynamic variables. Possible reasons for this result are discussed.