Twenty-five year experience with Starr-Edwards heart valves: follow-up methods and results

A prospective data registry and follow-up service has been in use for cardiac surgery patients at the St Vincent Hospital Heart Institute, Portland, Oregon, since 1960. It presently contains information on more than 4,000 heart valve operations. The physical system has evolved from a manually updated binder of flowsheets to an integrated multicomputer database. The caged-ball valves used as the predominant replacement device have themselves performed successfully, permitting a remarkable 25-year review. The conclusions from a current review of the valves, which have just entered their third decade of use, remain the same as the conclusions from an earlier review of the same series, performed 10 years ago when the valves had just entered their second decade of use.