Thoracic Key

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Replacement of the aortic valve or the full aortic root can be performed using a variety of stentless valve devices. The three main options are a…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Cardiovascular pathology defines the morphology and mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in individual patients and patient cohorts, both along the natural history of a disease and following…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen This chapter provides an overview of aortic valve replacement (AVR) with stented bioprostheses. The indications for aortic valve surgery are reviewed with an emphasis on evidence-based…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Mitral valve repair (MVR) remains the standard of care for patients with severe valve incompetence. MVR is usually accomplished by either an open surgical (sternotomy) approach…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen In 1931, Paul Dudley White stated “There is no treatment for aortic stenosis.” Even today the medical therapy of aortic stenosis has not significantly advanced.1 Conversely,…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen The tricuspid valve consists of three leaflets (anterior, posterior, and septal), the chordae tendinea, two discrete papillary muscles, the fibrous tricuspid annulus, and the right atrial…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen This chapter discusses the surgical indications, operative techniques, and early and late follow-up after implantation of mechanical and bioprosthetic mitral valve devices. The valves that are…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Patients with thoracic aortic disease pose many challenges. Frequently, these patients are older and present with multiple comorbidities. Additionally, the posterior location of the descending thoracic…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen The number of patients undergoing reoperation for valvular heart disease is increasing and will continue to increase as the general population ages.1 These reoperations most commonly…

INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Mitral valve infective endocarditis (IE) is one of the more devastating complications of mitral valve disease, and if left untreated, it is universally fatal, like any…