Clinical results of the ATS prosthetic valve in 240 implants and review of the literature.

Background and aim of the study: Despite having been used in mant thousands of implants, few pub­ lished dataexi~t{;:-pnceming the ATS valve. Clinical data from ATS val~e iinplants are presented, and the first two cases of mitral valve thrombosis with the ATS valve reported. Published data are also reviewed comparatively. Methods: Between September 1998 and July 2000,240 ATS valve prostheses were implanted in 199 patie~ts, of whom 88 (36.6%)nad mitral (MVR), 70 (29.1%) aortic (AVR), and 41 (17.1%) double valve replacements (DVR). Additional procedures were performed in 31 patients (15.6%). Transvalvular gra­ dients and effective orifice areas were measured by transthoracic echocardiography. Total cumulative follow up of all patients was 241.6 patient-years (pt­ yrl; mean (±SE) follow up was 1.25 ± 0.51 years. Results: There were six early deaths (3.0%). Over2lll and event-free survival rates during follow up were