Cardiac valve replacement with mechanical prostheses in patients aged 65 years and over.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Recent data regarding the performance of mechanical prostheses in patients aged > or =65 years are scant. Hence, the outcome of mechanical prosthesis implantation in this age group has been retrospectively evaluated.

Methods: Between January 1990 and October 2002, 253 patients (163 males, 90 females) aged > or =65 years (mean age 68.