Autologous tissue cardiac valve for aortic valve replacement: technical aspects and early results.
BACKGROUND
The known complications of heterograft bioprostheses and homograft valves have renewed the interest in the use of autologous material. A new technique to construct a tissue prosthesis for aortic valve replacement using the patient's pericardium harvested at the time of operation was developed. The glutaraldehyde-tanned pericardium is mounted on a stent requiring no suturing. Intraoperative testing assures adequate valve function.


METHODS
The autologous tissue cardiac valve was implanted in 50 patients in the aortic position between March 1994 and May 1995. Echocardiograms were performed in all patients before hospital discharge, at 3 months (41 patients), and at the end of first postoperative year (12 patients). The mean age was 69.8 +/- 5 years (range, 58 to 82 years). Eighty-four percent of patients presented with aortic stenosis and 16% had a combined lesion. Additional cardiac procedures were performed in 21 patients.


RESULTS
Aortic cross-clamp time was 72 +/- 19 minutes, and bypass time was 97 +/- 28 minutes. There were three in-hospital deaths, and 2 patients died within the first postoperative year. Predischarge echocardiography demonstrated excellent hemodynamics, with a mean gradient of 20 +/- 8 mm Hg and no or trivial aortic insufficiency in 45 patients. One patient had moderate aortic insufficiency. At first follow-up 36 patients (90%) were in New York Heart Association class I and 4 patients were in class II. Echocardiography showed no evidence of valve failure or degeneration (mean gradient, 17 +/- 5mm Hg; aortic insufficiency = grade 0 [trivial] in 35 patients, grade II in 3 patients, and grade III in 1 patient). Similarly, no degeneration or valve failure with increasing aortic insufficiency was seen in the patients studied at the end of the first postoperative year.


CONCLUSIONS
These results demonstrate that an autologous tissue cardiac valve can be manufactured in the operating room without significant additional operating time. Intraoperative testing minimizes the risk of primary failure with aortic insufficiency. Short-term results are encouraging with good hemodynamic performance of the valve and no signs of degeneration. However, long-term durability needs to be demonstrated.
Gross
C
C
Department of Surgery I, General Hospital, Linz, Austria.
Simon
P
P
Mair
R
R
Puschmann
R
R
Sihorsch
K
K
Hofmann
R
R
Brücke
P
P
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000601:surgery; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D005404:Fixatives; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005976:Glutaral; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science; D008875:Middle Aged; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D010496:Pericardium; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D015607:Stents; D015996:Survival Rate; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D005404:Fixatives; D005976:Glutaral