• Paul P Urbanski, Fitsum Lakew, Witold Dinstak, Nicolas Heinz, Michael Zacher, Vadim Irimie, and Wilko Reents.
• Cardiovascular Clinic Bad Neustadt, Bad Neustadt, Germany. Electronic address: p.urbanski@kardiochirurg.de.
• J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 2018 Jul 1; 156 (1): 89-95.e2.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate surgical results of complete aortic root replacement using self-assembled valve composite graft in the setting of destroyed aortic annulus after previous valve replacement.MethodsAortic root pathology being addressed by complete root replacement was combined with partial or complete absence of annular tissue in 112 consecutive patients. Eighty-eight had undergone a previous replacement of the aortic valve and 24 had undergone root replacement with a valved conduit. Altogether, 31 patients (27.7%) presented with acute endocarditis, which was the indication for surgery in 75% of patients with prior root replacement. In all patients, the root replacement or re-replacement was performed with a self-assembled valved conduit using mechanical (n = 74) or, in patients with an advanced age, biological (n = 38) valve prostheses.ResultsIn-hospital mortality was 11.6%, including a 30-day mortality of 6.3%. Resternotomy for bleeding was necessary in 5.4% of patients and about one-quarter did not need any blood transfusion. Estimated survival at 1, 5, and 10 years was 84.8% ± 3.4%, 75.7% ± 4.3%, and 57.1% ± 6.5%, respectively. Freedom from any valve-related events at 10 years was 86.2% ± 4.1%. During the follow-up time (mean, 63 ± 47 months), there was only 1 reoperation necessary 9 years after surgery (replacement of deteriorated biological valve prosthesis within the vascular tube leaving the conduit untouched).ConclusionsA self-assembled composite graft allows safe proximal fixation of the conduit in patients with destroyed aortic annulus, resulting in sufficient proximal anastomosis and a very low incidence of aorta-related reoperations.Copyright © 2018 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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