Fifty-four months' experience with an improved tilting disk valve (Medtronic-Hall)

Between 1978 and 1982, 230 consecutive patients underwent valve replacement with the Medtronic-Hall valve prosthesis. There were 95 patients with aortic valve replacement (AVR), 107 with mitral valve replacement (MVR) and 28 with aortic and mitral valve replacement (DVR). Operative mortality was 7.8%. Follow-up studies included 212 patients with a mean follow-up time of 26.5 months. Incidence of thromboembolism was 1.2%/patient year after AVR, 2.4%/patient year after MVR and 0 after DVR. Freedom from any kind of complications was 80% at 3 years. Recatheterization showed mean pressure gradients of between 0.0 and 6.0 mmHg in aortic prostheses and between 0.0 and 3.5 mmHg in mitral prostheses. It is concluded that the Medtronic-Hall valve prosthesis is a durable substitute with a low complication rate and good hemodynamic performance.