Choices for valve replacement: mechanical prosthesis or bioprosthesis

The prosthetic heart valve includes mechanical prosthesis and bioprosthesis which have different features and benefits.The patient's age is the most important decisive factor to decide which kind of prosthetic valve will be used. The optimal choice of prosthesis still requires further study. The 2012 European Society of Cardiology (ECS) guideline has no recommendation for valve choice on aortic valve for patients aging 60-65 years and on mitral valve for patients aging 65-70 years. The 2014 American Heart Association (AHA) guideline has no recommendation for all valves for patients aging 60-70 years (the age was modified to 50-70 years in 2017). In this review we analyze the studies about the prognosis of prosthetic valve replacement and discuss how to choose it for patients in different ages.