TOTAL PROSTHETIC REPLACEMENT FOR AORTIC VALVULAR DISEASE.

At the hospital of the University of California, Los Angeles, patients with acquired aortic valvular disease have been treated in the past by debridement of the obstructing calcifications or partial replacement of the valve with prosthetic cusps or a combination of these techniques. In a long-term evaluation of these patients, such methods were shown to be inadequate in most instances. We now recommend total valve replacement with the Starr-Edwards prosthetic valve in all patients with calcific aortic stenosis and for those with aortic insufficiency due to irreparable valvular lesions. The selection of patients, the operative technique, and the results thus far in nine patients are presented.