title: [Evaluation of aortic valve replacement involving small severely calcified aortic annulus in elderly patients].
abstract: We performed aortic valve replacement in 24 patients aged over 70 with small calcified valves. The surgical management of such patients remains controversial as the extensive calcification compromises implantation. Hence, we used an ultrasonic debridement instrument to remove calcium and selected a small prosthesis with the largest possible orifice without enlargement of the aortic annulus. Echocardiography showed significant reductions in left ventricular mass index compared with preoperative values. Early and mid-term prognosis has been relatively good.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Wakayama Medical University, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwahashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hiramatsu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Komori
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuzaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okamura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D001830:Body Surface Area; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000601:surgery*; D003646:Debridement / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008096:Lithotripsy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D017755:Prosthesis Fitting; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014464:Ultrasonic Therapy; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left