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Figure 2 Postoperative mean transvalvular gradient (A) and cardiac index (B) as a function of the interval since prosthesis implantation (years) in patients with an indexed effective orifice area, at implantation, of 0.65 cm²/m² (closed triangle pointing down, n = 5), 0.66 to 0.85 cm²/m² (closed triangle pointing up, n = 29), 0.86 to 1.05 cm²/m² (open triangle pointing up, n = 29) and >1.05 cm²/m² (open triangle pointing down, n = 9). *Significant difference between patients with an indexed valve area 0.85 or >0.85 cm²/m². Data are expressed as the mean value ± SEM. (Reproduced with permission from Pibarot et al. [6].)