title: Mid-term follow-up after heart valve replacement with CarboMedics bileaflet prostheses.
abstract: The CarboMedics cardiac prosthesis (CarboMedics, Inc., Austin, Tex.) is a relatively new, low-profile bileaflet prosthesis. We report the results of a prospective mid-term evaluation of 426 CarboMedics prostheses implanted at our institution. Three hundred fifty patients had CarboMedics prostheses implanted in the mitral (n = 125), aortic (n = 149), or aortic and mitral positions (n = 76). Hospital mortality was 5.2%. Follow-up was 98% complete, with 478 patient/years and a mean follow-up of 19 months (range 1 to 42 months). Actuarial freedom from complications were calculated as follows (linearized rates in parentheses): late mortality 97% +/- 0.77% (2.7%), thromboembolism 98% +/- 0.4% (0.5%), anticoagulation-related hemorrhage 98.6% +/- 0.4% (0.4%), nonstructural dysfunction 98.5% +/- 0.6 (0.2%), valve-related mortality 91.5% +/- 0.7 (0.5%), valve failure 90.9% +/- 1% (0.7%), treatment failure 92.8% +/- 0.8% (0.7%), and all valve-related morbidity and mortality 90% +/- 2% (2.6%). According to our results, the CarboMedics valve has a low rate of complications that further improves the quality of life in patients with heart valve prostheses.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiac Surgery, V. Monaldi Hospital, Second University of Naples Medical School, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Luca
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vitale
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Giannolo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cafarella
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Piazza
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cotrufo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery; D003328:Coronary Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate