The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 23, 26-31, Copyright © 1977 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Mitral valve replacement with the modified University of Cape Town (UCT) prosthesis: clinical and hemodynamic results
FH Ellis Jr, RW Healy and S Alexander
Mitral valve replacement with the modified University of Cape Town
prosthesis was performed in 42 patients. In 35 the procedure was an
isolated one, and the hospital mortality was 6%. The late survival rate was
60%, half of the late deaths being the result of thromboembolism or
complications of anticoagulant therapy. The incidence of hemolysis was low,
and hemodynamic results demonstrated improvement in cardiac index and
lowering of pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary artery wedge pressure,
pulmonary arteriolar resistance, and transvalvular mean gradients. However,
the calculated prosthetic valve orifice area was lower than the measured
area. Because of complications of thromboembolism, the high incidence of
late deaths, and high transvalvular gradients, this prosthetic valve is no
longer used in patients requiring mitral valve replacement.