Vascular Injury Following Heart Valve Replacement

Vascular injuries following cardiac prosthetic valve replacement are uncommon. During a 10-year period (1962–1971) 50 instances were found in 45 patients at postmortem examination. Lesions of the aorta were the most common, and coronary and femoral arteries were damaged less frequently. The injuries included stenosis or occlusion (17 patients), laceration or perforation (16 patients), dissecting aneurysm (13 patients), and false aneurysm (4 patients). Preexisting changes in the vessel wall predisposed to certain types of injury. Nine patients suffered injuries caused by surgical clamps; 12 injuries were due to sutures. Tearing of the aortic root from the base of the heart occurred in 5 patients.