A Braunwald-Cutter valve: a mitral prosthesis at 33 years

Luk, Adriana; Lim, Ki-Dong; Siddiqui, Raheela; Gupta, Shruti; Gilbert, Brian W.; Fremes, Stephen E.; Butany, Jagdish

doi:10.1016/j.carpath.2008.10.003

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Volume 19, Issue 2 , Pages e39-e42, March 2010

A Braunwald-Cutter valve: a mitral prosthesis at 33 years

Adriana Luk
- Department of Pathology, Toronto General Hospital/University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
Ki-Dong Lim
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Raheela Siddiqui
- Department of Pathology, Toronto General Hospital/University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
Shruti Gupta
- Department of Pathology, Toronto General Hospital/University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
Brian W. Gilbert
- Division of Cardiology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
Stephen E. Fremes
- Division of Cardiac and Vascular Surgery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada
Jagdish Butany
- Department of Pathology, Toronto General Hospital/University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Faculty of Medicine University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Correspondibg author. Department of Pathology, 11th floor, Toronto General Hospital, 200 Elizabeth St., Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 2C4. Tel.: +1 416 340 3008; fax: +1 416 340 4213

Received 20 June 2008; received in revised form 11 July 2008; accepted 6 October 2008. published online 09 January 2009.

Abstract

We present a case of a 76-year-old woman with a Braunwald-Cutter mitral caged-ball valve prosthesis excised after 33 years post implantation due to a paravalvular leak. The valve itself was intact and fully functional. We believe the longevity of this valve was due to the decreased flow velocities and the lower pressure in the mitral valve position.

Keywords: Mechanical valve, Braunwald-Cutter valve