Bioprosthetic heart valves: modes of failure.

Valve replacement started in 1960, with the surgeon now having a significant variety of prosthetic heart valves from which to choose. These valves are broadly divided into mechanical heart valves (MHV) and bioprosthetic heart valves (BHV). Improvements in the performance and ease of usage of BHV without the need for anticoagulant therapy are among the desired features of BHV and hence the increasingly preferred choice over their mechanical counterparts.

A Braunwald-Cutter valve: a mitral prosthesis at 33 years.

We present a case of a 76-year-old woman with a Braunwald-Cutter mitral caged-ball valve prosthesis excised after 33 years post implantation due to a paravalvular leak. The valve itself was intact and fully functional. We believe the longevity of this valve was due to the decreased flow velocities and the lower pressure in the mitral valve position.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy presenting as restrictive cardiomyopathy: a case complicated by biventricular apical aneurysms and papillary fibroelastoma.

This report describes a 45-year-old male patient with nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, biventricular apical aneurysms, and papillary fibroelastoma. Histology revealed muscle fiber disarray, interstitial fibrosis, and mural vessel changes. The wall of the aneurysms showed fat infiltration, and loss and replacement of muscle fibers with fibrous tissues.