Current options for cardiac valve replacement in young children and infants who require cardiac valve replacement are limited to fixed diameter prostheses that do not accommodate for somatic growth. The traditional treatment for valves that are beyond repair is the placement of a mechanical valve, which has many problems. To solve this, cardiac surgeons have successfully implanted a modified version of an expandable prosthetic heart valve in several children with mitral valve disease, by reinforcing an expandable bovine jugular vein graft using an external stent.
The human heart is like a busy factory with two powerful pumps—the ventricles—and two “unloading docks,” called the atria. Together, these chambers maintain a delicate balance, ensuring that oxygen-rich blood moves out into the body and that oxygen-poor blood gets pushed back to the heart and lungs. Heart Valve Disease The…
