Complications in patients with cloth-covered Starr-Edwards prostheses

Ninety-six patients were followed for an average of 45 months after insertion of cloth-covered Starr-Edwards prostheses (SE 2300, 2310, 2320, 2400, 6300, 6320, 6400). Operative mortality was 1%, hospital mortality 5.2% and late mortality (45 months) 13.5%. We observed a high incidence of valve disfunction as evidenced by a removal rate of 23% after six years. Disfunction was most reliably detected by abnormal prosthetic sounds and/or murmurs of incompetence at the prostheses. Thromboembolism occurred in 14% of the patients over 6 years and increased hemolysis was found in 18.8% of patients. It is concluded that the low incidence of thromboembolism does probably not out-weight the high incidence of valve disfunction.