title: Aortic valve replacement with biological substitute.
abstract: In the quest for an ideal aortic valve substitute, homografts and autografts are well-established options. We reviewed our results with homografts and autografts for aortic valve replacement during the last 5 years. From March 1992 through July 1997, 189 patients (138 male and 51 female), age 8 months to 68 years (mean 31.0+/-4.2 years), underwent aortic valve replacement with a human biological substitute. Of these, 93 patients received a cryopreserved or antibiotic-preserved aortic/pulmonary homograft, whereas 96 patients underwent a Ross procedure. Etiology was rheumatic in 143 (75.6%) patients, bicuspid aortic valve in 40 (21.2%), Marfan's disease in 5 (2.6%), and myxomatous aortitis in 1 (0.5%). Among the homograft group, a scalloped subcoronary implantation technique was used in 54 patients, whereas 32 patients underwent root replacement. Five patients required aortic root and ascending aortia replacement for annuloaortic ectasia. In all patients undergoing the Ross procedure, a root replacement technique was used. Operative mortality was 7.4% (14 patients). Late mortality was 5.3% (10 patients). Follow-up ranged from 1 to 46 months postoperatively. In patients with homograft aortic valve replacement, 76 patients (91.5%) had trivial to mild aortic regurgitation, while 7 patients (8.4%) had important aortic regurgitation. In patients with the Ross procedure, 78 patients (89.6%) had trivial to mild regurgitation. Moderate to severe aortic regurgitation was present in 9 patients (10.3%), all of whom had rheumatic heart disease and were young (< 30 years at surgery). We conclude that homografts and autografts provide an excellent substitute for the diseased aortic valve. Young age (< 30 years) with rheumatic etiology is a major risk factor for early progressive aortic regurgitation in patients undergoing the Ross procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Cardiothoracic Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Choudhary
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chander
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Dogra
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Venugopal
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000637:transplantation*; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000601:surgery*; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D011664:Pulmonary Valve / Q000637:transplantation; D012214:Rheumatic Heart Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D015996:Survival Rate; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous