Blood clots may complicate aortic valve replacements

Heart valve replacements made from tissue (bioprosthetic valves) have long been thought to be spared the complication of blood clot formation. Researchers have now found that about 15 percent of all bioprosthetic aortic heart valve patients develop blood clots on the leaflets affecting valve opening, regardless of whether the patient received the new valve via open-heart surgery or a minimally-invasive catheter procedure, says a new study.