Death due to transprosthetic catheterization of a Björk-Shiley prosthesis in the aortic position

In patients with aortic valve prostheses, left ventricular catheterization can be done by transseptal1 or retrograde, transprosthetic approaches2,3 to objectify a concomitant mitral valve lesion or aortic prosthesis function. MacDonald et al4 reported retrograde catheterization of the left ventricle through tilting disc prostheses and stated that this technique can be easily performed without apparent risk.4 We recently studied findings from a patient who died during transprosthetic catheterization of a Björk-Shiley aortic valve prosthesis.