Late follow-up of the Braunwald-Cutter valve

A retrospective review has been made of 234 patients who received 239 Braunwald-Cutter valves (109 aortic, 130 mitral). For the aortic valve, the thromboembolic rate was very high (10.3 per 100 patient-years). This was associated with severe strut cloth wear in 94.5% of valves and with long strands of fibrin attached to the worn cloth in 58% of valves studied at reoperation or postmortem examination. The aortic poppet showed a mean decrease in volume of 4%, and poppet escape was recognized in 4 patients. The actuarial incidence of poppet escape was less than that predicted in earlier reports. There was a 4% incidence of stenosis of the valve. The hospital mortality associated with removal of the aortic Braunwald-Cutter valve and replacement with another device was 4%. Performance of the mitral Braunwald-Cutter valve appears satisfactory to date (mean follow-up, 42 months). Its electric removal is not recommended.