Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene Valve Leaflets for Pulmonary Valve Replacement: A Step in the Right Direction?

In this issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Kim and colleagues1 from Korea reported on 119 patients who underwent implantation of a hand-sewn bileaflet expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) valve prosthesis within the right ventricle of patients requiring right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction and/or pulmonary valve replacement. They reported 5- and 10-year freedom from failure rates of 90% and 64.6%. There were 4 cases of endocarditis and 1 thrombotic complication. The mode of failure in most valves was insufficiency, with a significant number of patients having dehiscence of the leaflet material from the right ventricular surface.