Evaluation of St. Jude Medical valve's long-term function by Doppler echocardiography

In this study, the long-term function of St. Jude Medical valve (SJM valve) is evaluated by Doppler echocardiography. The subjects were 191 patients who underwent mitral or aortic valve replacement using SJM valve in our institute since July 1978 and had no clinical problem showing more than 50% of left ventricular ejection fraction. The patients were classified into 3 groups according to measurement period (within 5 years, 10 years and 15 years and more), and further classified by size and their results were compared. In every group by size, there was no significant difference among groups by measurement period. In the mitral valve position, peak pressure gradient and pressure half-time were not significantly different among groups by size. On the other hand, in the aortic valve position, pressure gradient in 21-mm group was significantly high among 21-mm, 25-mm, and 27-mm groups, showing a negative correlation with size. As the result, it was suggested that SJM valve kept a good function more than 15 years after operation. From these results, it was considered that the patients with small annlus of the aortic valve needed annulus-enlarging procedure or use of Hemodynamic Plus series valves to keep the size of more than 23 mm.