The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 58, 563-564, Copyright © 1994 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Elective removal of convexo-concave Bjork-Shiley valves
PB Rajesh, GH Smith, PV Lawford and MM Black
Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Replacement has been an accepted method for treating advanced cardiac
valvular disease for more than 25 years. However, the perfect prosthesis
has yet to be developed, judging by the number of devices available. A
prosthesis that initially appears promising may cause problems in due
course, and indeed some devices have been modified or withdrawn from
clinical use. A notable example of a prosthetic valve that has give
problems is the Bjork-Shiley convexo-concave prosthesis, some models of
which have undergone mechanical failure due to strut fracture. We report
the elective removal of such a valve and the subsequent examination of the
prosthesis. The results of this examination suggest that a policy of
elective removal is justified.