Direct Ex Vivo Measurement of the Real Geometric Orifice Area to Assess the Hemodynamic Performance of Bioprosthetic Heart Valves

...the debate about the clinical evidence of the so-called patient-prosthesis mismatch (PPM) arose again. In this context it was discussed which valve specific parameter has the biggest evidence for the PPM and therefore the geometric orifice area (GOA) was pointed out as an important factor... …Methods: Commercially available surgical aortic bioprosthetic heart valves from different manufacturers were tested in a FDA / DIN conform Pulse Duplicator System (ViVitro Labs Inc., Victoria, Canada). The system … ...it was clearly demonstrated, that this GOA is a dynamic process over the whole ejection period, which significantly differed from the maximum reached GOA...