Sir Bruce added that, in the wake of public inquiries into children's heart surgery in Bristol and events in Mid Staffordshire, it was important to act swiftly on the data received.
Another study of 2, 200 individuals found that routinely checking patients' arteries with angiograms, then fixing blockages when necessary with bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty, could reduce those events by 18 percent.
Investigators monitored participants for adverse events related to the device or to the implant surgery and regularly assessed their vision for at least two years after receiving the implant.
The current recommendation of 3 months of warfarin treatment after bioprosthetic AVR surgery is primarily based on results from 1 retrospective study with a limited number of events.