Outcomes of valve replacement with mechanical prosthesis versus bioprosthesis in dialysis patients: A 16-year...

To evaluate the long-term outcomes of heart valve replacement with mechanical prosthesis (MP) versus bioprosthesis (BP) in patients on dialysis.

A retrospective review was performed at 7 hospitals. Patients on dialysis who underwent valve replacement were included. Survival, reoperation, bleeding, and embolic events were compared across the MP and BP groups.

Between April 2000 and April 2016, 312 patients on dialysis were enrolled in our study (MP: 94 patients [30.1%], BP: 218 patients [69.9%]). Mean follow-up was 3.4 ± 3.6 years. Five-year and 10-year survival rates were similar in both groups (MP: 57.4 ± 5.5% at 5 years and 46.3 ± 6.4% at 10 years, BP: 50.2 ± 4.1% at 5 years and 38.8 ± 4.5% at 10 years, P = .305). Multivariate Cox hazard analysis demonstrated that diabetic nephropathy (hazard ratio [HR], 1.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-2.73, P < .001), New York Heart Association functional classification ≥III (HR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.37-3.35, P = .001), and mitral valve replacement (HR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.58-3.49, P < .001) were significant risk factors for late death. Valve selection was not a significant risk factor. Freedom from valve-related embolic event at 5 years was significantly lower in the MP group (MP: 88.3 ± 4.3% at 5 years, BP: 97.2 ± 1.6% at 5 years, P = .007). Freedom from valve-related reoperation or hemorrhagic events was similar across both groups.

Valve selection was not associated with late survival outcomes in patients on dialysis. However, BP may have an advantage in preventing embolic events without increasing the incidence of valve-related reoperation when compared with MP.