Late strut fracture in a Björk-Shiley valve prosthesis (current series).
Fracture of the short strut of the latest series of Björk-Shiley mitral valve prostheses occurred 12 months after implantation. The patient died despite emergency surgery to excise and replace the prosthesis. Björk-Shiley 29-33 mm valves with a 60 degree opening angle manufactured between February 1981 and March 1982 have a predicted strut fracture rate of 0.3% (three times greater than that of valves produced outside these dates). Unimplanted valves from this batch have now been recalled by the manufacturers.
D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000209:etiology; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000209:etiology