TY - JOUR
T1 - Autopsy-Determined Causes of Death After Cardiac Valve Replacement
AU - Schoen, Frederick J.
AU - Titus, Jack L.
AU - Lawrie, Gerald M.
PY - 1983/2/18
Y1 - 1983/2/18
N2 - We reviewed records of 378 patients who died after cardiac valve replacement and underwent autopsy at The Methodist Hospital, Houston, from 1962 through 1979. Patients were divided according to postoperative interval at death: within 30 days (early) or 30 days to ten years (late). Early deaths (279 patients) were due almost exclusively to cardiovascular abnormalities or operative complications (94%). Only 6% of early deaths were caused by prosthesis-associated complications. In contrast, late deaths (99 patients) were valve related in 47% of cases, including complete thrombotic occlusion or systemic thromboembolism (21%), prosthetic valve endocarditis (14%), valve dehiscence (6%), anticoagulation-related hemorrhage (3%), and mechanical degeneration (2%). Nine percent of late deaths were unrelated to cardiovascular disease. Thus, while early deaths primarily reflected the severity of preexisting or associated cardiovascular disease, prosthesis-associated complications were an important cause of late death after cardiac valve replacement.
AB - We reviewed records of 378 patients who died after cardiac valve replacement and underwent autopsy at The Methodist Hospital, Houston, from 1962 through 1979. Patients were divided according to postoperative interval at death: within 30 days (early) or 30 days to ten years (late). Early deaths (279 patients) were due almost exclusively to cardiovascular abnormalities or operative complications (94%). Only 6% of early deaths were caused by prosthesis-associated complications. In contrast, late deaths (99 patients) were valve related in 47% of cases, including complete thrombotic occlusion or systemic thromboembolism (21%), prosthetic valve endocarditis (14%), valve dehiscence (6%), anticoagulation-related hemorrhage (3%), and mechanical degeneration (2%). Nine percent of late deaths were unrelated to cardiovascular disease. Thus, while early deaths primarily reflected the severity of preexisting or associated cardiovascular disease, prosthesis-associated complications were an important cause of late death after cardiac valve replacement.
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U2 - 10.1001/jama.1983.03330310029021
DO - 10.1001/jama.1983.03330310029021
M3 - Article
C2 - 6823042
AN - SCOPUS:0020679764
VL - 249
SP - 899
EP - 902
JO - JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
JF - JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
SN - 0098-7484
IS - 7
ER -