First Clinical Experience with a Mechanical Valve with Silver Coating Aart Brutel de la Riviere MD, Karl M. E. Dossche MD, Dietrich E. Birnbaum MD,Robert Hacker MD Thirty-eight patients were studied for any adverse effects of the permanent silver coating on the St. Jude MedicalR mechanical heart valve. Blood serum silver remained far below toxic levels through two months' follow up. No adverse effects of silver coating could be detected, and there were no valve-related complications.

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