Malfunction of the Omniscience valve in mitral position: a case report

A 55-year-old woman who underwent implantation of a 27 mm Omniscience valve in mitral position 5 and a half years ago, consulted our institution complaining reappearance of signs of mitral stenosis. In preoperative examinations, the maximal opening angle of the Omniscience valve was only 32 degrees and PCWP was elevated to 20 mmHg. Her symptoms disappeared after mitral valve re-replacement with a Medtronic Hall 27 mm prosthesis. The important point is that no foreign body such as thrombus or overgrown pannus interfering motion of the Omniscience valve was observed at the time of reoperation. The cause of insufficient opening seemed to be valve mechanism itself.