Hemodynamic results of aortic valvular replacement with the porcine xenograft valve.

Twenty-three patients were evaluated by cardiac catheterization two to 12 months following aortic valve replacement with the porcine xenograft valve. These hemodynamic studies established a mean peak-to-peak systolic gradient across the prosthesis of 23 mm Hg with a range of 6-58 mm Hg. The mean effective orifice area was calculated to be 1.25 cm2. The effective orifice area increased with increasing valve size from 0.99 cm2 for the 19 mm prosthesis to 1.44 cm2 for the 25 mm prosthesis. While in general the hemodynamics of the porcine xenograft valve are comparable to other available prostheses, the exceedingly small orifice areas (0.99 cm2 and 1.03 cm2) calculated for the 19 mm and 21 mm prostheses render their use inadvisable.