MITRAL AND AORTIC ANNULAR ENLARGEMENT FOR INSERTION OF ADEQUATE SIZE PROSTHETIC VALVES

Mitral and aortic valve rings were radically enlarged in a 70-year-old white female presenting with unusually tiny and severely stenotic rhe umatic mitral and aortic valve disease. A common aorto-left atrial inc ision created by cutting across the two valves made it possible to imp lant adequate size St. Jude valves. The resulting defect in the roof o f the left atrium and the aortic root were closed with a generous patc h of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The center of the patch and the u nattached segments of the two prostheses were incorporated with interr upted horizontal mattress sutures.