Tag Archives: prosthetic valve

Introduction Whether asymptomatic patients with a normally functioning replacement heart valve require routine follow-up remains uncertain. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC)1 and American Heart Association (AHA)2 guidelines recommend life-long annual follow-up by a cardiologist. However, pressure on out-patient space means that such patients are often discharged with the expectation that their GP will follow them or that they will return should a valve-related or other cardiac problem develop.3 This trend is likely to be accentuated by planned re-organisations within the National Health Service (NHS).4 To investigate whether regular mo