Cardiovascular surgery (London, England)
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Comparative Study
Surgical results of aortic valve replacement via partial upper sternotomy: comparison with median sternotomy.
the theoretical advantages of mini-invasive cardiac surgery are shorter hospitalisation, better surgical results and costs reduction. In November 1997 we started a non-coronary mini-invasive surgery program using a partial upper median sternotomy. This study has been conceived to retrospectively compare two groups of patients who underwent isolate aortic valve replacement using the conventional and the mini-invasive technique. ⋯ in our experience, partial upper median sternotomy does not increase surgical risks but failed to demonstrate clear advantages. Apart for an increase in operating times, the surgical results are similar to those of a conventional median sternotomy with only improvement in the aesthetical aspect. In our opinion, this supports the conviction that this approach can be proposed to selected patients, to obtain a better cosmethical result for the same given risk.
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The aim of this study was to assess the utility of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the evaluation of patients undergoing aortic valve replacement with the CryoLife-O'Brien (CLOB) Stentless Porcine Aortic Bioprosthesis. ⋯ Intraoperative TEE was effective in assessing prosthetic stentless valve function.