The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 32, 357-368, Copyright © 1981 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Porcine valve durability in children
JM Dunn
Calcification of porcine heterograft valves may be greater in the pediatric
than in the adult population. This multicenter study evaluates the
long-term actuarially determined durability of porcine valves in children
less than 21 years old. We evaluated 227 late survivors of porcine valve
implantation with 47 aortic valves, 67 mitral valves, 14 tricuspid valves,
14 pulmonary valves, 77 pulmonary conduits, and 8 apicoaortic conduits. In
this series, 20 porcine valves degenerated, most in the aortic and mitral
positions. At 5 years 40% of aortic, 40% of mitral, 100% of tricuspid, 100%
of pulmonary, and 89% of pulmonary conduits remained functional. In this
series, calcification and dysfunction occurred significantly faster (p less
than 0.05) in younger compared with older children and in left-sided or
systemic positions (aortic and mitral) compared with right-sided positions
(tricuspid, pulmonary, and pulmonary conduit).