Echocardiographic assessment of prosthetic valves

Valve replacement is a palliative procedure that carries a subsequent risk of valve degeneration, development of regurgitation or stenotic lesions, thrombosis, and endocarditis. Different prostheses carry different risks for these events so that subsequent evaluations must be tailored to the patient’s clinical situation and type of prosthesis.Delineation of normal prosthetic valve function is usually possible with echocardiography which provides important hemodynamic information with regard to pressure gradients.Echocardiography is the most accurate noninvasive method in the evaluation of prosthetic valve structure & function and dependent heart function.