31-YEAR DURABILITY OF A STARR-EDWARDS AORTIC PROSTHESIS

We report the case of a 57-year old man who was admitted to our depart ment because of worsening dyspnea - orthopnea and whose aortic valve h ad been replaced 31 years previously, with a Starr-Edwards caged-bah p rosthesis. His symptoms' deterioration was due to a recent myocardial infarction which in combination with the chronic mitral regurgitation of rheumatic origin led to heart failure. As assessed by echocardiogra phy the mechanical prosthesis did not show signs of significant dysfun ction and except for mild regurgitation, it had a good performance. De spite some valve related complications, such as the recurrent thromboe mbolic events that our patient had, his Starr Edwards aortic prosthesi s demonstrated an excellent long term durability and reliability.