title: Reoperation for a patient with Starr-Edwards aortic valve malfunction due to pannus formation twenty-nine years after implantation.
abstract: We report a re-do case of severe aortic valve stenosis due to pannus formation 29 years after an aortic Starr-Edwards caged-ball valve implantation. A huge shelf of calcified and thick pannus tissue below the valve had reduced the already small orifice by at least a third in surface area. The explanted Starr-Edwards valve revealed no mechanical or structural failure. Early detection and treatment of pannus outgrowth is essential in order to prevent life-threatening prosthetic valve malfunctions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, St. George Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Takahisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okano
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.forename: Gary G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Fermanis
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Horton
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005549:Foreign-Body Reaction / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D012008:Recurrence; D012086:Reoperation