A turbulence in vitro assessment of On-X and St Jude Medical prostheses

The objective of this study was to investigate and compare the hemodynamic and turbulence characteristics upon implantation of St Jude Medical (SJM) (St Jude Medical, St Paul, Minn) and On-X (On-X Life Technologies, Kennesaw, Ga) bileaflet mechanical valves. Both valves are considered highly successful bileaflet mechanical valves characterized by good clinical outcomes despite their numerous design differences. Although thromboembolism remains the main disadvantage of bileaflet mechanical valves, On-X valves have been shown to need less anticoagulation therapy. Hemodynamic assessment of a 23-mm On-X bileaflet mechanical valve and a 23-mm bileaflet SJM valve implanted in an aortic root was performed under pulsatile physiologic conditions. Time-resolved and phase-locked particle-image-velocimetry images and high-speed imaging data were acquired. Pressure gradients, effective orifice areas, dimensionless area index, leaflet position tracking, velocity, and principal Reynolds shear stress were calculated. Pressure gradient for the On-X valve was 4.15 ± 0.099 mm Hg versus 4.75 ± 0.048 mm Hg for SJM (P