The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 45, 554-558, Copyright © 1988 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Initial experimental experience with a "replaceable" cardiac valve prosthesis
DK Cooper, WN Wicomb, GM Gould and D Boonzaier
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
An easily "replaceable" cardiac valve prosthesis has been designed. It
consists of two parts: (1) a sewing ring incorporating a circlip and (2) a
functioning valve (either mechanical or tissue). The circlip is encased in
a sewing ring, which is sutured into the natural valve annulus, and grips
the functional part of the prosthesis, thereby preventing dislodgment. A
simple instrument has been designed to open the circlip a few millimeters
to allow easy removal or insertion of the functional element. This sewing
ring/circlip with the functional element of a Bjork-Shiley prosthesis was
used in 10 baboons undergoing mitral valve replacement. Removal and
replacement of the functional element was carried out at a second operation
between 1 and 12 weeks later. There were no operative deaths. Baboons were
electively killed one day to twelve months after the second operation.
There were no complications related to the prosthesis; cardiac
catheterization showed normal hemodynamics before and after the second
operative procedure.