Justices to Rule on Jurisdiction Issue in Shiley Suits : Heart valves: The state Supreme Court will review cases of two Scandinavian men who died after the devices failed.

The California Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether foreign residents who received implants of potentially defective mechanical heart valves can sue the Irvine-based manufacturer of the valves in California courts or must seek remedy in their home countries.

The state high court, in an order issued Nov. 28, said it would review the jurisdictional issue involving the cases of two Scandinavian men who died when their heart valves fractured. The families of the two men are seeking damages from Shiley Inc., the valve manufacturer, and its parent company, Pfizer Inc. of New York.

The Supreme Court’s decision will set a precedent for determining the place of trial for about 80 other cases filed in California against Shiley and Pfizer by or on behalf of foreign recipients of the heart valve. A ruling is not expected before late 1991.

These cases involve Convexo-Concave heart valves implanted in 86,000 people worldwide between 1979 and 1986. At least 400 of the valves have fractured, and 265 deaths have been blamed on the valves.

It is estimated that 25,000 people overseas are still living with the valves implanted.

Bruce Finzen, an attorney representing the families of the two Scandinavian men, said at least seven of the foreign cases filed against Shiley are on behalf of persons who died after their valves fractured. About 70 of the claims are by valve recipients who say they have suffered anxiety knowing that the device could fail at any time, he said.

Finzen has said he wants his clients’ cases tried in California because Scandinavian law would make it more difficult to collect documentation from Shiley and to obtain testimony from former Shiley employees. That information is needed, he said, to prove the patients’ claims that the valve fractures are the result of design or manufacturing defects.

The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana ruled in September that the Scandinavian families’ cases, now 3 years old, should be tried overseas.

Finzen, however, said that decision conflicts with a 1986 ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles in the case of an Australian woman who died from a valve fracture. In ruling on the case, Corrigan v. Shiley, the Los Angeles district appeals court concluded that claims filed on on behalf of overseas heart-valve recipients may be tried in California courts, Finzen said.

Because of the discrepancy in rulings among the two appeals courts, Finzen has asked the state Supreme Court to act as a referee.

Finzen said Friday that he is “pleased that the state Supreme Court has granted our petition to review the case and settle the current conflict between the 2nd and 4th district courts of appeal.”