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Figure 10 Death Rate and Age Reported for Mechanical and Bioprosthetic Valves
The total death rate is compared with the mean age of patients in each of 15 series reporting mechanical (filled squares) and 23 series reporting bioprosthetic (open squares) valves in relation to the mean age of patients included in each series. The areas of squares are proportional to total patient years of follow-up. Patients in series receiving bioprosthetic valves had an older average age, but the relationship between average reported age and death rate of the reporting series seems to have a similar relationship for mechanical and bioprosthetic valves. Reprinted with permission from Lund and Bland (22).
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