Two years experience with Medtronic-Hall prostheses in 75 patients with special reference to its thrombogenicity and hemolysis.

Seventy-five patients received 80 Medtronic-Hall valve prostheses during a 24-month period at the Beilinson Medical Center. The mean age was 50 years and the majority of patients had rheumatic heart disease. All operations were elective. There were 4 early and 2 late deaths (8%). Four patients needed re-operation for paravalvular leaks, 3 of them survived the second operation and one patient with prosthetic valve endocarditis did not. One patient was re-operated on successfully because of a mycotic aneurysm in the ascending aorta. Mild subclinical hemolysis (elevated SLDH and reduced haptoglobin) was found in the majority of patients. Hemolysis was found to be significantly lower in type D 16 prostheses patients. Mild hemorrhagic complications occurred in 2 patients due to anticoagulant therapy. Three patients suffered from prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE), 2 of them responded to prompt medical therapy. There were no thromboembolic episodes. Most surviving patients experienced marked postoperative improvement. Within the 24-month follow-up period, the Medtronic-Hall valve compared favorably with other disk or ball prostheses previously and currently used in our department.