Total replacement of the mitral valve: results of insertion of a Starr-Edwards valve in five patients.

In five patients the mitral valve was resected and total valve replacement undertaken. The Starr-Edwards prosthesis was inserted. The first patient died, two and one-half months after operation, of a wide massive left-atrial clot and peripheral embolization. The second and third patients are well and back at work at eight months after operation, and the fourth patient is well at two and one-half months after operation. The fifth patient died suddenly at three weeks from massive peripheral embolization originating from the left side of the heart. The technical details of the insertion of the valves are described and the importance of careful postoperative anticoagulant management is stressed.