Leaflet Fracture of a St. Jude Mechanical Bileaflet Valve

Bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement on a mechanical valve ring

“…This case illustrates the need for innovative approaches in cardiac surgery under difficult intraoperative settings. Even though fracture of a prosthetic cardiac valve is a known but rare entity, 1–5 its occurrence intraoperatively and rectification by placement of a new valve superimposed on the preexisting valve cage has not been previously described.…”

Intermittent regurgitation caused by incomplete leaflet closure of the Medtronic ADVANTAGE bileaflet heart valve: Analysis of the underlying mechanism

“…There are many reports in the literature dealing with structural failures of mechanical heart valves affecting both mitral and aortic prostheses. [7][8][9] These events are often life-threatening, and a detailed investigation is necessary if any abnormality is observed in the follow-up of a patient treated with a mechanical heart valve. Therefore, after the clinical detection and description of the IR phenomenon, 1,2 an in vitro study was initiated to identify the underlying mechanism and to discern whether the valves that show IR are at an increased risk for structural failure.…”

Spontaneous leaflet fracture resulting in embolization from mechanical valve prostheses

“…Leaflet escape in mechanical heart valves of other manufactures is very rare and is limited to single case reports, including an Omnicarbon aortic valve prosthesis (Medical Inc., Inver Grove Heights, MN), a St. Jude mitral valve prosthesis (St. Jude Medical, St. Paul, MN), and an On‐X mitral valve prosthesis (Medical Carbon Research Institute, Austin, TX). Similar to the ED valve, patients present with cardiac failure and emergency surgery was performed in all cases (Table ).…”