Total prosthetic replacement of atrioventricular valves in the dog. I. Development of a free-floating cone valve for the right atrioventricular ostium.

A free-floating cone valve to be used as a prosthesis for the tricuspid valve of the heart is described. It consists of a stainless steel flat cage with a Lucite cone inside. The experience and reasoning that led to its construction are presented and the results obtained with it in a series of 32 dogs are given.