COMPARISON OF THE LONG-TERM RESULTS OF STARR-EDWARDS AND SAINT-JUDE MITRAL-VALVE PROSTHESES

Two groups of patients having undergone mitral valve replacement with a Starr-Edwards (Group A = 149 patients) or Saint Jude (Group B = 87 patients) prosthesis between 1981 and 1987 were included in this study. The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the mortality, the morbidity - especially with respect to thromboembolic events - and echo Doppler haemodynamic profiles of the two types of prosthesis. The two patient groups were comparable with respect to age, aetiology and preoperative haemodynamic status. Late mortality was greater in Group A (13 % versus 4,5 %) and the 5 year survival was significantly better in Group B (95 % versus 89 %). Thromboembolic events were significantly more common in Group A (2,6 % per patient year versus 0,5 % per patient year in Group B, p = 0.01). Five years survival without thromboembolic event was 94 % in Group B versus 86 % in Group A. The haemodynamic Doppler echocardiography profiles were compared on random samples of 30 cases from each group, the only exclusion criterion being suspected or confirmed prosthetic valve dysfunction.