Aortic bioprosthetic valve deterioration 8 months after implantation

One year after aortic bioprosthetic valve replacement with a 23-mm Epic bioprosthesis (St. Jude Medical, St. Paul, MN) with concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting, early valve degeneration with leaflet calcification and stiffening was documented in a 61-year-old man. A possible reason for this extremely early deterioration could not be identified, although a xenograft reaction could be a plausible hypothesis. Consequently, a successful redo aortic valve replacement with a 21-mm Magna Ease (Carpentier-Edwards, Irvine, CA) was performed.