title: The first step to understanding valve failure: an overview of pathology.
abstract: The most frequent valve-related complications are thromboembolic problems (including anticoagulant-related hemorrhage), infective endocarditis, paravalvular leak, intrinsic degradative dysfunction, and extrinsic interference with function, including tissue overgrowth. Tissue overgrowth, endocarditis, and paravalvular leak are largely prosthesis-independent. Thrombosis, the major cause of mechanical valve dysfunction, is infrequent with bioprostheses; in contrast, the overwhelming cause of bioprosthetic valve failure is primary tissue degeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Schoen
mesh_terms: D001705:Bioprosthesis / Q000145:classification / Q000592:standards*; D015984:Causality; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000145:classification / Q000592:standards*; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011474:Prosthesis Design / Q000592:standards; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000592:standards