Valve Replacement in Rheumatic Heart Disease

¹ Head, Department of Surgery, Institute of Medical Scineces, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
² Division of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston

In a consecutive series of 50 patients undergoing single and multiple cardiac valve replacement operations for rheumatic heart diases at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, there were only two in-hospital deaths and four late deaths. Rehabilitation was good to excellent in 82 percent of patients, with follow-up studies from 6 to 18 months. Advances in surgical management contributing to lowering operative risks include use of total hemodilution, hypothermic ischemic cardioplegia, simple, gentle and accurate valve fixation of hemodynamically porved valves, avoidance of air embolism, and strict adherence to a few simple principles in post operative care.