title: Rates of thromboembolism with three different mechanical heart valve prostheses: randomised study.
abstract: In 434 operations for valvular heart disease, patients were randomised to receive Björk-Shiley, Edwards-Duromedics, or Medtronic-Hall mechanical prostheses. At a median follow-up time of 37.5 months there were no differences in hazard of death or non-embolic events. In the first six postoperative months the incidence of thromboembolism was about the same for the three valves. Subsequently, however, the incidence of thromboembolism for the Edwards-Duromedics valve was 3.9 times higher than for the Björk-Shiley valve, and for the Medtronic-Hall valve 2.6 times higher than for the Björk-Shiley valve.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Kuntze
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ebels
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eijgelaar
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Homan van der Heide
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001021:Aortic Valve; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000145:classification / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D013997:Time Factors