Objective To explore the effect of aortic valve neo-cuspidization (AVNeo) for patients with severe aortic valve lesions simultaneously. Methods Patients who underwent AVNeo combined valve repair surgery for multiple valve diseases were included in Beijing Anzhen Hospital from May 2016 to September 2023. Results We included 11 patients with 7 males and 4 females at a median age of 38 (36, 49) years. Rheumatic heart disease was found in 5 (45.5%) patients and non-rheumatic heart disease in 6 (54.5%) patients. The median EuroSCORE Ⅱ score was 1.62 (1.18, 1.75) points. Eight patients underwent AVNeo plus mitral and tricuspid valve repair, and 3 patients underwent AVNeo plus mitral valve repair. The median operative time was 356 (315, 415) min, and the median cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic clamping time were 203 (174, 231) min and 168 (131, 188) min, respectively. In the early stage, 2 patients underwent combined valve repair surgery, and 1 patient underwent in-hospital reoperation for aortic valve replacement because of severe aortic regurgitation. There were 9 patients in the mature stage of AVNeo, and no perioperative adverse events or moderate or above residual valvular disease occurred. All patients recovered and were discharged from the hospital. The follow-up period was 3-99 months, and no reoperation, severe valve disease, bleeding, cerebral infarction, or other adverse events occurred in all patients. Conclusion For non-elderly patients whose mitral and tricuspid valves can be repaired successfully with severe aortic valve lesions, AVNeo can be attempted after proficiency. But the operation time and cardiopulmonary bypass time will inevitably be prolonged, and the patient's basic situation should be carefully evaluated before surgery.
This paper reported a 75-year-old female patient. She was admitted to our hospital for “repeated chest pain, shortness of breath for more than 5 years, and syncope 3 times”. The CT scan of the patient showed severe aortic valve stenosis, bicuspid valve, and severe calcification; then she underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement in our hospital. After the prosthesis was implanted, there was a significant paravalvular leak. Considering the triangular area formed between the calcified clumps, the valve was not fully dilated. Paravalvular leak closure was performed during the operation, attempted through the valve stent mesh to closuring. A rare incarceration of the transmitter occurred. An attempt was made to pull out the incarcerated transmitter through a pull-up technique, which resulted in the prosthesis prolapse. The patient was eventually transferred to surgery aortic valve replacement.
The implantation of biventricular assist device (BiVAD) is more challenging than that of left ventricular assist device for the interaction in the process of multiple input and output. Besides, ventricular assist device (VAD) often runs in constant speed (CS) mode in clinical use and thus BiVAD also faces the problems of low pulsation and imbalance of blood volume between systemic circulation and pulmonary circulation. In this paper, a delay assist mode for a VAD by shortening the support time of VAD was put forward. Then, the effect of the delay mode on cardiac output, pulsation and the function of the aortic valve was observed by numerical method and the rules of hemodynamics were revealed. The research showed that compared with VAD supported in CS mode, the VAD using delay mode in systolic and diastolic period proposed in this paper could meet the demand of cardiac output perfusion and restore the function of the arterial valves. The open ratio of aortic valve (AV) and pulmonary valve (PV) increased with the time set in delay mode, and the blood through the AV/PV helped to balance the left and the right cardiac volume. Besides, delay mode also improved the pulsation index of arterial blood flow, which is conducive to the recovery of the ventricular pulse function of patients.
ObjectiveTo analyze the early- and middle-term prognosis of various surgical methods in children with congenital aortic valve diseases, to provide reference for surgical methods in children with aortic valve stenosis or regurgitation.MethodsThe clinical data of 85 children with various aortic valve diseases treated in the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University from January 2005 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 64 males and 21 females, with an average age of 45 months ranging from 5 days to 15 years. Among them 18 patients underwent balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV), 8 surgical aortic valvotomy (SAV), 27 aortic valve autogenous pericardium repair, 16 mechanical arterial valve replacement and 16 Ross operation. They were followed up for 6.25±2.76 years. The re-intervention and survival status after different operations were analyzed.ResultsThere were 3 deaths and 17 reoperations in 85 children. The 5-year survival rate of the patients with SAV, BAV, aortic valve autogenous pericardium repair, mechanical arterial valve replacement and Ross operation was 87.4%, 88.9%, 100.0%, 100.0% and 100.0%, respectively; there was no statistical difference in the early and middle-term survival rates among various operations (P>0.05). The 5-year free from re-intervention rate of the patients with SAV, BAV, aortic valve autogenous pericardium repair, mechanical arterial valve replacement and Ross operation was 44.4%, 18.4%, 100.0%, 66.9% and 80.5%, respectively; there was a statistical difference in the early and middle-term re-intervention rate among various operations (P<0.05).ConclusionThe operation of congenital aortic stenosis or regurgitation needs to be performed according to the pathological changes of the valvular tissues. For children with severe lesions, SAV is recommended for the first intervention. For congenital aortic stenosis, SAV and BAV are both palliative operations which need further evaluation and re-intervention. Ross operation and mechanical arterial valve replacement have low re-intervention rate, and the middle- and long-term follow-up shows that the effect is accurate. Aortic valve autogenous pericardium repair is expected to become a method to delay or replace Ross operation and valve replacement.
Objective To summarize the clinical experiences of using selfpericardial patch heightening to treat aortic valve prolapse. Methods From May 2000 to July 2007, seventeen patients with aortic valve prolapse were treated by selfpericardial patch heightening. Fifteen cases had right coronary cusp prolapse, one had left coronary cusp prolapse, and one had no coronary cusp proplapse. There were 10 cases with moderate aortic regurgitation and 7 with severe regurgitation. Autologous pericardium was continuously sutured on the proplapsed cusp by 5-0 or 6-0 Prolene suture. The transesophageal echocardiography(TEE) showed that there was few or mild aortic regurgitation during operation. Preoperative and postoperative echocardiography results were compared. Results The comparison between preoperative and postoperative echocardiography results showed that postoperative left ventricular enddiastolic diameter reduced obviously(38.3±9.6 mm vs. 47.2±10.3 mm，P=0.013)；postoperative aortic valve systolic pressure difference reduced（9.8±5.6 mm Hg vs. 10.3±5.3 mm Hg，P=0.792）; postoperative aortic valve diastolic pressure difference reduced obviously(45.7±13.6 mm Hg vs. 78.4±19.9 mm Hg，P= 0.000). Echocardiographic examination before discharge showed that 4 cases had no obvious aortic regurgitation, 9 had mild aortic regurgitation and 4 had moderate aortic regurgitation. The average followup time was 32 months(4.74 months). One case underwent aortic valve replacement because of severe aortic regurgitation 4 months later after the operation, and the rest needed no second operation. Conclusion Using selfpericardial patch heightening to treat aortic valve prolapse is a simple operative method, and it is good for young patients or small aortic annulus.
Aortic valve calcification (AVC) is one of the major causes of aortic stenosis (AS), and its pathogenesis is related to inflammation infiltration, lipid deposition, endothelial damage, calcification osteogenesis and angiogenesis. Previous studies have shown that AVC is associated with the severity of AS, the incidence of cardiovascular events, mortality, and surgical outcomes. The quantitative analysis of AVC using imaging methods not only has diagnostic value for AS, but also has guiding significance for the selection of surgical timing, assessment of surgical risk, and prognosis prediction. This article comprehensively elaborates on the methods and values of evaluating AVC using echocardiography, CT, and positron emission tomography.
ObjectiveTo summarize the surgical strategy of reoperative aortic root replacement after prior aortic valve replacement (AVR), and analyze the early and mid-term outcomes.MethodsFrom April 2013 to January 2020, 75 patients with prior AVR underwent reoperative aortic root replacement in Fuwai Hospital. There were 54 males and 21 females with a mean age of 56.4±12.7 years. An emergent operation was performed in 14 patients and an elective operation in 61 patients. The indications were aortic root aneurysm in 38 patients, aortic dissection involving aortic root in 30 patients, root false aneurysm in 2 patients, prosthesis valve endocarditis with root abscess in 2 patients, and Behçet's disease with root destruction in 3 patients. The survival and freedom from aortic events during the follow-up were evaluated with the Kaplan-Meier survival curve and the log-rank test.ResultsThe operative procedures included prosthesis-sparing root replacement in 45 patients, Bentall procedure in 26 patients, and Cabrol procedure in 4 patients. Operative mortality was 1.3% (1/75). A composite of adverse events occurred in 5 patients, including operative death (n=1), stroke (n=1), and acute renal injury necessitating hemodialysis (n=3). The follow-up was available for all 74 survivors, with the mean follow-up time of 0.5-92.0 (30.3±25.0) months. Four late deaths occurred during the follow-up. The survival rate at 1 year, 3 years and 6 years was 97.2%, 91.4% and 84.4%, respectively. Aortic events developed in 2 patients. The rate of freedom from aortic events at 1 year, 3 years, and 6 years was 98.7%, 95.0% and 87.7%, respectively. There was no difference in rate of survival or freedom from aortic events between the elective patients and the emergent patients.ConclusionReoperative aortic root replacement after prior AVR can be performed to treat the root pathologies after AVR, with acceptable early and mid-term outcomes.
ObjectiveTo analyze long-term outcomes of aortic valve replacement (AVR) for patients with severe aortic regurgitation (AR) and left ventricular dysfunction (LVD). MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 44 patients with severe AR and LVD who received AVR in Drum Tower Hospital from January 2002 to December 2012. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of all the patients was lower than 35%. There were 29 male and 15 female patients with their age of 23-78 (44±6) years and LVEF of 22%-34% (29%±3%). ResultsTwo patients died because of heart failure postoperatively. Cardiopulmonary bypass time was 57-92 (73±8) minutes, aortic cross-clamping time was 33-61 (48±6)minutes, and length of ICU stay was 2-15 (8±3) days. All the patients were followed up for 1-11 (4.3±2.9) years. Two patients died during follow-up because of heart failure and stroke respectively. One-year survival rate was 93% and five-year survival rate was 91%. ConclusionAVR can significantly increase long-time survival of patients with severe AR and LVD.
ObjectiveTo summarize the clinical experience of aortic valve replacement surgery with minimally invasive procedure. MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 72 patients underwent isolated aortic valve replacement in our hospital between January 2011 and August 2013. The patients undergoing minimally invasive procedure were as a minimally invasive group(30 patients with 18 males and 12 females at age of 60.2±13.4 years). The patients undergoings conventional procedure were as a control group(42 patients with 27 males and 15 females at age of 61.3±14.5 years). The outcomes of the two groups were compared. ResultsThere was no death and severe complication in both groups. Postoperative echocardiography showed no paravalvular leakage, no valve dysfunction in both groups. There were no significant statistically differences between the two groups in cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic crossclamping time, ventilation time, postoperative left ventricle ejection fraction, the length of ICU stay and hospital stay (P>0.05). Blood transfusion ratio, blood transfusion volume and blood loss volume were lower in the minimally invasive group than those in the control group (P<0.05). The length of incision, chest closure time, operative duration were shorter in the minimally invasive group than those in the control group (P<0.05). ConclusionUpper median sternotomy is a safe and feasible procedure for minimally invasive aortic valve replacement surgery. Compared with conventional aortic valve replacement, its advantages include less surgical trauma, stable sternum, rapid recovery, less blood loss and blood transfusion, and cosmetic outcomes.
The first aortic valve repair was performed in 1958, but the clinical outcome was limited. Since the invention of prosthetic valves, aortic valve replacement has become and still maintained the dominated surgical treatment option. As the impact of the prosthetic valve-related event to quality of life of the patients and the studies of the mechanism of aortic regurgitation and the functional anatomy of aortic root grow, the application of aortic valve repair gets more popular, and the short- and mid-term outcomes are good.