Excessive strut wear allowing ball-poppet embolization in a DeBakey-Surgitool aortic valve prosthesis.
Excessive cage strut wear allowing ball-poppet embolization caused the sudden death of a 47 year old lady in whom a DeBakey-Surgitool aortic prosthesis had been implanted nine years earlier. Patients with this type of prosthesis should have periodic valvular cine fluoroscopy with image intensification to allow visualization of significant strut wear or fracture, and appropriate prosthetic valve replacement.
D001021:Aortic Valve; D004617:Embolism / Q000209:etiology*; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged