The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 31, 444-449, Copyright © 1981 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Heart valve replacement with the Hancock bioprosthesis: a 6-year review
JI Gallo, B Ruiz, MF Carrion, JA Gutierrez, JL Vega and CM Duran
All patients who had a mitral or aortic Hancock valve replacement between
June, 1974, and June, 1979, were reviewed. A total of 734 bioprostheses
were implanted in 632 patients: 291 had mitral (MVR), 239 had aortic (AVR),
and 102 had both mitral and aortic valve replacement (MVR + AVR). In 228
patients, an associated surgical procedure was necessary. It involved
conservative valve operation in 205 of them. The hospital mortality was
9.6% (28) for MVR (11.5% with associated operation), 4.6% (11) for AVR
(8.7% with associated operation), and 13.7% (14) for MVR + AVR (13.0% with
associated operation). The follow- up period was between 1 and 6 years with
a total follow-up of 934.6, 714.6, and 288.3 patient-years for MVR, AVR and
MVR + AVR, respectively. The late mortality was 0.96% (9), 1.53% (11), and
2.08% (6) per patient-year for MVR, AVR, and MVR + AVR, respectively. The
thromboembolic rate was 1.49%, 0.14%, and 2.08% per patient-year for MVR,
AVR, and MVR + AVR, respectively. There were twelve valve failure (six wer
due to rupture; four, thrombosis; one, insufficiency because of intrinsic
failure; and one, stenosis without evident cause at reoperation). This
represents a failure rate of 0.53%, 0.13%, and 2.08% per patient-year for
MVR, AVR, and MVR + AVR, respectively. These results encourage us to
continue our routine use of the glutaraldehyde xenografts as the safest
valve substitute at present.
