One-Year Outcomes of St. Jude Medical (SJM) Mechanical Valve Replacement: Mortality and morbidity analysis in a resource-constrained Cardiac Centre.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the mortality and morbidity rates at one year in patients with rheumatic heart disease undergone St. Jude Medical mechanical heart valves replacement. Study Design: Retrospective Cohort study. Setting: Peshawar Institute of Cardiology (PIC), a newly established cardiac centre located in Peshawar. Period: January 2021 to January 2023. Methods: Data were extracted from the hospital's Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Health Management Information System (HMIS) of 208 adult patients (≥18 years) who underwent mechanical valve replacement (aortic, mitral, or double valve) using St. Jude Medical Master series prostheses between 2021 and 2023 and analyzed with was SPSS version 26.0. Results: Mechanical valve replacement was performed on 208 patients with a median age of 41 years (IQR: 32–52) and a median BMI of 24.1 kg/m².A total of 102 individuals (40.0%) had their mitral valves replaced. The most frequent reasons for readmission within a year were bleeding in 8 patients (3.8%) and pericardial effusion in 9 patients (4.3%). All cause mortality including operative mortality rate at one year was 9%. Conclusion: Although mechanical valve replacement is still a viable option for patients with rheumatic heart disease, it is linked to high rates of death and morbidity in settings with limited resources in developing nations.