Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction following mitral valve replacement: effect of strut height and orientation.

The influence of strut position and strut height of Ionescu-Shiley bovine pericardial valves on the degree of left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction was studied following mitral valve replacement (MVR) in hypertrophied left ventricles. Left ventricular hypertrophy was created in 6 lambs by constrictive banding of the descending thoracic aorta at 2 weeks of age. MVR was accomplished seven months later utilizing cardiopulmonary bypass and hypothermic cardioplegic arrest. Each animal underwent three consecutive valve replacements with 25-mm bovine pericardial valves randomly inserted in each of the following manners: (1) standard-profile valve with orientation of the struts out of the LVOT; (2) standard-profile valve with a strut oriented into the LVOT; and (3) low-strut profile investigational valve with a strut oriented into the LVOT. Gradients across the LVOT were measured after MVR and then following administration of isoproterenol hydrochloride (0.05 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per minute). No gradient was created with the struts oriented out of the LVOT with or without isoproterenol administration. When a strut was oriented into the LVOT without isoproterenol, the gradients were comparable with the standard- and low-profile valves (7 +/- 2 mm Hg versus 6 +/- 4 mm Hg, respectively). With isoproterenol, however, a significant difference in gradients between the standard- and low-profile valves (65 +/- 20 mm Hg versus 22 +/- 14 mm Hg, respectively) was observed when a strut was oriented into the LVOT. The results show that LVOT obstruction following MVR was related to the orientation of the strut of the bioprosthetic valve, and this obstruction was diminished with a decreased strut height of the Ionescu-Shiley prosthesis.