EDITORIAL

Which heart valve prosthesis for patients aged between 60 and 70 years?

G Hanania

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Guy Hanania, Service de Cardiologie, Centre Hospitalier Robert Ballanger, 93602 Aulnay-sous-Bois Cedex, France;
cardio@ch-aulnay.fr

---

The advantages and disadvantages of the two types of heart valves—mechanical and bioprostheses—can pose a dilemma when it comes to choosing the most appropriate treatment for patients aged between 60 and 70 years

---

Keywords: heart valve replacement; mechanical prosthesis; bioprosthesis; elderly

Abbreviations: BP, bioprosthesis; INR, international normalised ratio; MP, mechanical prosthesis; VA, Veterans Affairs

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Prosthetic valve replacement has transformed the prognosis of major and poorly tolerated valvulopathies. The respective advantages and disadvantages of the two types of valves available are well known: mechanical prostheses (MP) theoretically have an indeterminate life span but carry the risk of thromboembolic events that require anticoagulant therapy, which itself is responsible for haemorrhages; bioprostheses (BP), free of anticoagulant treatment and thus haemorrhagic risk, bear a theoretically lower thromboembolic risk (but in fact equal to that of an anticoagulated MP) and have a limited life span that requires reintervention at a subsequent date influenced by the patient’s age at implantation, the valve replaced, and the BP type used.

These respective risks affect the long term outcome of the prosthesis bearer and differ by their time of occurrence. Thromboembolic and haemorrhagic events can occur at any time during the postoperative period, whereas BP deterioration, highly unusual during the first few years . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Brown, M. L., Schaff, H. V., Lahr, B. D., Mullany, C. J., Sundt, T. M., Dearani, J. A., McGregor, C. G., Orszulak, T. A. (2008). Aortic valve replacement in patients aged 50 to 70 years: Improved outcome with mechanical versus biologic prostheses.. J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 135: 878-884 [Abstract] [Full Text]