Abstract
The aortic valve homograft can now be adapted for use in either of the atrioventricular valve positions. A simple titanium strut covered with knitted fluorocarbon (Teflon) provides a frame to which the homograft valve is sutured prior to implantation. Patients requiring multiple heart valve replacement can be treated by tissue valve substitutes rather than with plastic prostheses. Only fresh aortic valve homografts are used because preserved or sterilized valve grafts tend to calcify and deteriorate. The patient with three aortic valve homografts shows normal results from postoperative catheterization and has heart sounds indistinguishable from those of a normal heart. Anticoagulants have been uneventfully discontinued.
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