title: Long-Term Comparison of Three Types of Aortic St. Jude Medical Mechanical Prosthesis in Japanese Patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The long-term results achieved with aortic St. Jude Medical (SJM) mechanical prostheses in various age groups of Japanese patients have not been previously compared or reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Since 1981, a total of 240 SJM valves were implanted in 79 patients using the Standard model, in 58 patients with the Hemodynamic Plus model, and in 103 patients with the Regent model for aortic valve replacement (AVR). Follow-up was completed for 2,397 patient-years in 97.5% of the patients, among whom the effect of age was compared, and the subjects were divided into younger (<65 years) and older (≥65 years) groups. Hospital mortality rate was 2.5%. No structural valve deterioration was observed during the follow-up period. In addition, no significant differences were observed in long-term survival between the 3 models. In contrast, significantly better rates of freedom from all-cause death (P<0.0001), valve-related death (P=0.0018) and valve-related morbidity (P=0.0021), including bleeding events (P=0.0007), were observed in the younger group (n=157, 50.6±1.0 years old) than in the older group (n=83, 72.5±0.7 years old).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All types of SJM valve used for single AVR achieved satisfactory early and long-term results in each age group even 25 years after surgery. When selecting this prosthesis for elderly patients, however, relatively worse performance may be expected compared with that observed in younger patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: Hiromichi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sonoda
authors.forename: Yasuhisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanoue
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tatewaki
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shiokawa
authors.forename: Ryuji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tominaga
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001011:Aorta / Q000601:surgery*; D044466:Asian People; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate