Falsely elevated valve gradients by echocardiography in the 3f aortic bioprosthesis

The 3f Aortic Bioprosthesis (Medtronic, Inc, Minneapolis, MN) is a stentless aortic valve with a novel design that resembles a "tube within a tube." Although it has the potential for improved durability and hemodynamic performance, long-term data on this valve remain elusive. We present here 3 patients in whom postoperative echocardiography revealed significantly elevated transvalvular gradients of the 3f valve while transcatheter gradients proved to be negligible. By virtue of the unique design of the 3f bioprosthesis, great caution should be taken when interpreting echocardiographically derived gradients.