Five-year follow-up of valve replacement with the Jyros bileaflet mechanical valve

Jyros bileaflet rotating valves were implanted as a clinical trial conducted in Japan, and the 5-year results were assessed. Nineteen patients underwent implantation of the valves: 14 in the mitral and 5 in the aortic position. The mean follow-up period was 65.4+/-15.7 months. There was 1 case of late death due to fatal arrhythmia and another case of cerebral thromboembolism (1.0% per patient year). All survivors were in New York Heart Association class I. On the early postoperative cinefluorography, 8 valves (42.1%) showed rotation of the leaflets. However, in the latest assessment 6 valves (33.3%) showed rotation, some valves had stopped rotation, and others had started to rotate during the follow-up period. The Jyros valve functions effectively, similar to other bileaflet valves. However, because the correlation between thromboembolism and the rotation mechanism is not clear, further follow-up of our patients and more implant studies are necessary to elucidate this issue.