Mt. Hagley et al., THROMBOSIS OF MITRAL-VALVE BIOPROSTHESES IN PATIENTS REQUIRING CIRCULATORY ASSISTANCE, The Annals of thoracic surgery, 60(6), 1995, pp. 1814-1816
Two patients with new mitral valve bioprostheses required implantation
of Bio-Medicus centrifugal pumps (Bio-Medicus, Minneapolis, MN) for c
irculatory support and had evidence of prosthetic valve thrombosis 1 a
nd 4 days later. Both patients died of thromboembolic complications de
spite surgical removal of the thrombus. Thrombosis is a rare early com
plication of bioprosthetic valves and in these cases was probably rela
ted to low transvalvular now due to the use of circulatory assist devi
ces. We discuss possible strategies for avoiding and managing this cat
astrophic complication.