• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.242-246
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• 1998

From January 1988 to December 1995, 27 patients, 11 men and 16 women, underwent surgical intervention at our institution for prosthetic valve dysfunctions. The mean age was 43.5$\pm$12.2 years. Seventeen(63.0%) patients had the mitral valve replacement, 8(29.6%) the aortic valve, 1(3.7%) the aortic composite graft, and 1(3.7%) the tricuspid valve. Mean follow-up period was 49.5$\pm$30.9 months. In 12 bioprostheses, mean interval between the previous valve replacement and the reoperation was 104.9$\pm$34.9 months. The causes of redo surgery were structural deterioration of the prosthetic valve (12/12, 100%), paravalvular leak (2/12, 16.7%), and prosthetic valve endocarditis(1/12, 8.3%). In 15 mechanical prostheses, the mean interval was 55.2$\pm$43.7 months. The causes of redo surgery were pannus formation (8/15, 53.3%), paravalvular leak(4/15, 26.7%), and valve thrombosis(3/15, 20.0%). Posto- perative complications occurred in 7 patients (25.9%). There was no intraoperative death. But one patient, who received mechanical aortic valve replacement died on the 3rd postoperative day due to low cardiac output and multiorgan failure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.2090-2097
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• 1992

In this paper, fluttering behavior of mechanical monloleaflet heart valve prosthesis was analyzed taking into consideration of the impact between the valve occluder and the stopper. The motion of valve occluder was modeled as a rotating system, and equations were derived by employing the moment equilibrium conditions. Lift force, drag force, gravity and buoyancy were considered as external forces acting on the valve occluder. The 4th order Runge-Kutta method was used to solve the equations. The results demonstrated that the occluder reaches steady eguilibrium position only after damped vibration. The mean damping ratio is in the range of 0.197-0.301. Fluttering frequency does not have any specific value, but varies as a function of time. It is in the range of 11-84Hz. Valve opening appears to be affected by the orientation of the valve relative to gravitational forces.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1998 no.11
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• pp.247-248
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• 1998

The effect of unattached valve leaflet on flow field downstream of a floating and flapping polyurethane heart valve prosthesis was investigated. With a triggering system and a time-delay circuit the instantaneous velocity field downstream of the valve was measured by particle image velocimetry (PIV) in conjunction with the opening posture of a flexible valve leaflet during a cardiac cycle. Reynolds shear stress distribution was calculated from the velocity fields and wall shear stress was directly measured by hot-film anemometry (HFA). The floating motion of the valve leaflet resulted in the reduction of pressure drop and recirculating flow region downstream of the valve.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.643-647
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• 2000

From March 1988 to June 1994, 275 CarboMedics cardiac valve prostheses(199 mitral, 70 aortic and 3 tricuspid) were implanted in 226 consecutive patients(mean age 39 years, male/female 90/136) by one surgical team operating on adult cardiac patients at Kyungpook University Hospital. Total follow up represented 16,848 patient-months(mean 76 months) and follow up rate was 96%. One hundred and forty-nine patients(66%) wer in NYHA functional class III or IV preoperatively, and 204 patients(99.5%) were in class I or II postoperatively. Early mortality was 4.9% and late death was 9.3%. The actuarial survival at 81 months was 86.l2$\pm$3.1%. The linearized incidence of valve-related death, prosthetic valve thrombosis, anticoagulation-related hemorrhage, non-structural dysfunction and reoperation were 0.71%, 0.43%, 0.07%, 0.21%, and 0.14% respectively. The 81-month rate of freedom from all valve related complications and deaths including hospital mortality was 88.1$\pm$2.5%. Thee facts suggest that the CarboMedics cardiac valve has excellent result, low incidence of valve-related complications and no structureal deterioration.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 1995

From January 1985 to December 1992, of 1257 patients who underwent a heart valve replacement 210 [16.8% underwent reoperation on prosthetic heart valves, and 6 of them had a second valve reoperation. The indications for reoperation were structural deterioration [176 cases, 81.5% , prosthetic valve endocarditis [25 cases, 11.6% , paravalvular leak [12 cases, 5.6% , valve thrombosis [2 cases, 0.9% and ascending aortic aneurysm [1 case, 0.4% . Prosthetic valve failure developed most frequently in mitral position [57.9% and prosthetic valve endocarditis and paravalvular leak developed significantly in the aortic valve [40%, 75% [P<0.02 . Mean intervals between the primary valve operation and reoperation were 105.3$\pm$28.4 months in the case of prosthetic valve failure, 61.5$\pm$38.5 months in prosthetic valve endocarditis, 26.8$\pm$31.2 months in paravalvualr leak, and 25.0$\pm$7.0 months in valve thrombosis. In bioprostheses, the intervals were in 102.0$\pm$23.9 months in the aortic valve, and 103.6$\pm$30.8 months in the mitral valve. The overall hospital mortality rate was 7.9% [17/26 : 15% in aortic valve reoperation [6/40 , 6.5% in reoperation on the mitral prostheses [9/135 and 5.7% in multiple valve replacement [2.35 . Low cardiac output syndrome was the most common cause of death [70.6% . Advanced New York Heart Association class [P=0.00298 , explant period [P=0.0031 , aortic cross-clamp time [P=0.0070 , prosthetic valve endocarditis [P=0.0101 , paravalvularr leak [P=0.0096 , and second reoperation [P=0.00036 were the independent risk factors, but age, sex, valve position and multiple valve replacement did not have any influence on operative mortality. Mean follow up period was 38.6$\pm$24.5 months and total patient follow up period was 633.3 patient year. Actuarial survival at 8 year was 97.3$\pm$3.0% and 5 year event-free survival was 80.0$\pm$13.7%. The surgical risk of reoperation on heart valve prostheses in the advanced NYHA class patients is higher, so reoperation before severe hemodynamic impairment occurs is recommended.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.316-320
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• 2003

Background: The detection of circulating microemboli by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) has the potential to select the patients with high risk for future symptomatic brain embolism. We prospectively evaluated the positive rate and the frequency of microembolic signals (MES) before and after the heart valve surgery (HVS). Material and Method: Fifty in-patients with heart valve disease were enrolled in this study. Patients with history of previous stroke or heart valve surgery were excluded. Two unilateral TCD monitoring sessions were peformed from middle cerebral artery for 1-hour, before and after HVS. Result: Mechanical Heart valves were implanted in 28 patients, tissue valves were implanted in 10 patients, and remaining 12 patients received mitral valve repair. Positive rate of MES was significantly increased after HVS (50%), compared to that of before HVS (8%, p=0.00). There was no relation between MES after HVS and intensity of anticoagulation, cardiac rhythm, patients' age, and history of hypertension. The positive rate of MES after implantation of mechanical heart valve (71.4%) was significantly higher than those after implantation of tissue valve or mitral valve plasty (p=0.002). Conclusion: Positive rate of MES was increased significantly after the implantation of HVS. The changes of MES in those with mechanical prosthesis may be related to the increased risk or embolism after Hvs.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.7 s.264
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• pp.527-533
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• 2006

Background: A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the results of St. Jude Medical mitral valve replacement at the Chonbuk National University Hospital since the initial implant in May 1984. Material and Method: Between May of 1984 and December of 1996, 95 patients underwent MVR with the St. Jude Medical mechanical valve prosthesis at Department of Medical Science of Chonbuk National University Hospital and follow-up ended in May of 2004. Result: Age ranged from 19 to 69 years. Follow-up (mean${\pm}$standard deviation) averaged $10.6{\pm}4.2\;year$. Thirty-day operative mortality was 4.2% (4/95). Nine late deaths have occurred and actuarial survival was $90.5{\pm}3.0%,\;87.9{\pm}3.4%\;and\;83.2{\pm}4.6%$ at 5, 10 and 20 years, respectively. Probability of freedom from valve-rotated death was $95.5{\pm}2.1%,\;94.3{\pm}2.4%\;and\;91.0{\pm}3.9%$ at 5, 10 and 20 years, respectively. Seven patients have sustained thromboembolic events (1,05%/patient-year). Fifteen patients had anticoagulation related hemorrhage (3.56%/patient-year). There was no structural valve deterioration. Probability of freedom from all complications was $82.0{\pm}3.9%,\;71.3{\pm}4.8%\;and\;42.4{\pm}10.5%$ at 5, 10 and 20 years, respectively. Conclusion: We confirm the effective and excellent durability of the St. Jude Medical prosthesis in the mitral position with a low event rate at long-term follow-up. It also demonstrates the commonly encountered practical difficulty of adjusting the anti-coagulation protocol in patients with prosthetic mitral valves.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.158-159
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• 1993

The hemorragic episode is the major problem of mechanical prosthesis, because of the necessity for anticoagulant therapy to prevent complication of thromboembolism. Double valve replacement was performed to 42 year old male due to aortic stenoinsufficiency and mitral stenosis. For anticoagulant therapy, the patient has been given wafarin under the control of prothrombin time 0.5-2 times of normal) in the our hospital. The patient was injuried the right pelvic area by waves in the beach 4 years after double valve replacement. Pelvic MRI scan showed huge hematoma in the right pelvic cavity. The patient was operated removal of intrapelvic hematoma.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1556-1562
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• 1992

Forty two consecutive patients who had had valve replacement with St. Jude Medical prosthesis were studied on a view point of intravascular hemolysis. Patients were consisted of 14 mitral valve replacement, and 7 aortic valve replacement, and 21 double, mitral and aortic, valve replacement. Serum LDH, indirect bilirubin, GOT, hemoglobin levels and ret-iculocyte count were pursued in postopeative 1st day, 3rd day, 7th day, 14th day and 21th day. Postoperatively, all patients were not detected paravalvular leakage on the ech-ocardiographical study. The patients with double valve replacement revealed higher levels of LDH on postopeative 14th day[P<0 05] than those with single valve replacement. Among the patients with single valve replacement, the patients with aortic valve replacement revealed slightly higher levels of entire postopeative data, but considered insignificant. There was correlation between the severity of hemolysis and the size of replaced aortic valve. In the postoperative LDH levels, the patients with small sized-aortic valve[less than 21mm in diameter] replacement revealed higher levels of postoperative 3rd day, 7th day and 14th day than those with large size[more than 23mm in diameter]. The patients with high level LDH of greater than 800 WU /L on postoperative 7th day were 61.9%[26 of 42]. The high LDH frequency of DVR was 71.4%[15 of 21], MVR 50.0%[7 of 14] and AVR, 57.1%[4 of 7]. The level of LDH declined gradualiy thereafter through postoperative 3 weeks. In conclusion, intravascular hemolysis after prosthetic valve replacement was dependent on position of valve replacement and size of valve. And this study supports the conventional valve selection and usage in our hospital. The patients with subclinical hemolysis after valve replacement should be placed on a close observation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.189-200
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• 1974

The mitral valve replacement with Beall prosthetic valve was performed on three patients, and double valve replacement. aortic and mitral valve, was performed in this department.1) The preoperative studies about the first case were compatible with mitral steno-insufficency.The diseased mitral valve was replaced with the medium sized Beall prosthetic valve under the cardiopulmonary hypass using hypothermic hemodilution technique. The total perfusion time was eighty minutes. Immediate postoperative course was smooth, but this patient was died of asphyxia due to tracheomalacia complicated after tracheostomy 3 months after operation. Autopsy on this patient revealed that no thrombus and no ball variance could be found, and endothelization on the valve cuff was satisfactory. 2) The preoperative studies on the second case were compatible with mitral insufficiency. The diseased mitral valve was replaced with the medium sized Beall prosthetic valve under the cardiopulmonary bypass using hypothermic hemodilution technigue. The total perfusion time was 123 minutes. This patient was discharged in good condition and follow-up study after 16 months revealed the patient had enjoyed healthy life. 3) The preoperative studies about the third case were compatible with aortic insufficiency and mitral stenoinsufficiency. The diseased valves were replaced with type 2 sutureless Magovern aortic valve and the medium sized Beall mitral prosthesis under cardiopulmonary bypass using hypothermic hemodilution technIque and coronary artery perfusion. The total perfusion time was 155 minutes. This patient was discharged in good condition, but thromboembolism was developed 2 months after discharge. 4) The preoperative studies about the fourth case were compatible with mitral insufficiency. The diseased mitral valve was replaced with the medium sized Beall prosthetic valve. The total perfusion time was 132 minutes. The atrioventricular block developed just after operation but converted to normal sinus rhythmn on the third postperative day. The preoperative NYHA functional classification IV was converted to Class 1 or 11 at the time of discharge and this patient enjoyed healthy life. Attendum; The fifth case, nineteen years old male with mital insufficiency underwent Beall valve replacement and his course was uneventful 2 weeks after operation.