Mid-term follow-up of pulmonary valve bioprostheses in adults with congenital heart disease

Objectives: Pulmonary valve replacement is increasingly performed late after correction of Tetralogy of Fallot. Most reports have dealt with tissue valves as the valves substitute of choice although late deterioration and reoperation are the rule. We aimed to study the mid-term results of bioprosthetic pulmonary valve implantation in the patients with a previous corrective surgery resulting in severe pulmonary regurgitation. Methods: The present cross sectional study was conducted on eighty consecutive patients with pulmonary bioprostheses . After clinical evaluation, all the patients underwent a complete, two-dimensiona and Doppler study. Any regurgitation or stenosis equal to or more than the moderate level was defined as significant. Results: Thirty-four patients (43.6%) had at least one kind of malfunctioning pulmonary bioprostheses;. 24 patients with stenosis (30.8%), 16 (20.5%), with insufficiency and 6 (7.7%) with both. 5- years freedom from bioprostheses dysfunction (defined as significant stenosis or regurgitation) was 56.4%. Most patients (99%) had degrees of right ventricular enlargement and dysfunction. Conclusions: We found less pulmonary valve bioprostheses durability compare to the previous studies. Besides, the 5-year freedom from significant dysfunction (56.4% in our study) was comparable to 10-year longevity (58% in other studies) of pulmonary bioprosthese.