Calcific deposits developing in a bovine pericardial bioprosthetic valve 3 days after implantation

Calcific deposits, localized in a thin layer of thrombus covering the cuspal surfaces, were present 3 days after implantation in a valved pulmonic conduit that contained an Ionescu-Shiley bovine pericardial valve and was placed in a 29-year-old man with double outlet right ventricle, valvular and infundibular pulmonic stenosis, and ventricular septal defect. Factors that may have contributed to such a rapid calcification were the relatively young age of the patient, the development of acute renal insufficiency postoperatively, and the administration of large amounts of calcium chloride intravenously during blood transfusions and during episodes of cardiac arrest.