https://doi.org/10.1177/0391398819860845 The International Journal of Artificial Organs 1–8 © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0391398819860845 journals.sagepub.com/home/jao IJAO Te International Journal of Artifcial Organs Introduction Heart valve prostheses are generically classified as mecha- nical heart valves (MHVs), which have only synthetic or non- biological components and bioprostheses which are made, at least in part, of biological components. 1 MHV prostheses can also be divided into two kinds based on their flow pattern: those with lateral flow such as the ball-in-cage and disk-in-cage valves and those with more central flow such as the tilting-disk and bileaflet valves. Identification of mechanical prosthetic heart valves based on distinctive cinefluoroscopic and echocardiographic markers Macit Kalçık 1 , Ahmet Güner 2 , Mahmut Yesin 3 , Emrah Bayam 4 , Semih Kalkan 2 , Sabahattin Gündüz 2 , Mustafa Ozan Gürsoy 5 , Süleyman Karakoyun 6 , Sinan Cerşit 2 and Mehmet Özkan 2,7 Abstract The past 65 years have witnessed remarkable progress in the development of safe, hemodynamically favorable mechanical heart valves. Today, there are a large number and variety of prostheses in use and many prostheses have been used for a while and then discontinued. When patients lack reliable information about their heart valve prostheses, identification of valve model becomes difficult even for specialized physicians in this area. A combination of cinefluoroscopy and echocardiography makes it possible to provide accurate and detailed information regarding identification of prosthetic valve models. Fluoroscopic examination is a useful technique to evaluate patients following mechanical heart valve replacement. However, transthoracic echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography have almost replaced cinefluoroscopy in the evaluation of prosthetic heart valves. Especially, real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography provides distinctive images of prosthetic heart valves, particularly for those in the mitral position. A large body of literature has been published to familiarize physicians with the radiological appearance of numerous mechanical prostheses. However, there is a lack of data regarding the identification of prosthetic valve models based on echocardiographic appearance. In this review, we aimed to describe distinctive echocardiographic and cinefluoroscopic markers for identifying the type and brand of several commonly used mechanical prosthetic heart valves. Keywords Cinefluoroscopy, echocardiography, heart valve, mechanical prosthesis, transesophageal echocardiography Date received: 29 October 2018; accepted: 10 June 2019 1 Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hitit University, Çorum, Turkey 2 Department of Cardiology, Koşuyolu Kartal Heart Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey 3 Department of Cardiology, Kars Harakani State Hospital, Kars, Turkey 4 Department of Cardiology, Umraniye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey 5 Department of Cardiology, Izmir Katip Çelebi University, Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey 6 Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kars Kafkas University, Kars, Turkey 7 Division of Health Sciences, Ardahan University, Ardahan, Turkey Corresponding author: Macit Kalçık, Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hitit University, Buharaevler Mah. Buhara 25. Sok. No: 1/A Daire: 22, Çorum 19000, Turkey. Email: macitkalcik@yahoo.com 860845JAO 0 0 10.1177/0391398819860845The International Journal of Artificial OrgansKalçık et al. review-article 2019 Review