Immediate outcomes of aortic valve neocuspidization with glutaraldehyde-treated autologous pericardium: a multicenter study

Abstract Objective: To determine the feasibility of aortic valve neocuspidization (AVNeo) with glutaraldehyde-treated autologous pericardium. Methods: One hundred and seventy (170) AVNeo (84 males/86 females) were performed from January 2017 through March 2019 in three centers. All the records were prospectively collected and retrospectively reviewed. Results: Most of the patients were older than 60 years and over 95% were operated for aortic stenosis. Preoperatively, pressure gradients were 69.9±21.3 mmHg for patients with aortic stenosis, and the surgical annular diameter was 21.0±2.0 mm for all patients. Effective orifice area (EOA) and indexed EOA (iEOA) averaged 0.7±0.3 cm2 and 0.4±0.2 cm2/m2 for patients with aortic stenosis before surgery, respectively. There was no conversion to prosthetic aortic valve replacement. Eight patients needed reoperation for bleeding, but no patient needed reoperation due to early infective endocarditis. There were five in-hospital deaths due to noncardiac cause. Compared to preoperative echocardiographic measurements, postoperative peak pressure gradient decreased significantly (-58.7±1.7 mmHg; P<0.001) and reached 11.2±5.6 mmHg, and mean pressure gradient also decreased significantly (-36.8±1.1 mmHg; P<0.001) and reached 6.0±3.5 mmHg. Accordingly, EOA and iEOA increased significantly 2.0 cm2 and 1.0 cm2/m2 (both P<0.001) to reach 2.7±0.6 cm2 and 1.4±0.3 cm2/m2 after surgery, respectively, with minimal significant aortic regurgitation (0.6% > mild). Conclusion: AVNeo is feasible and reproducible with good clinical results. Hemodynamically, AVNeo produces immediate postoperative low-pressure gradients, large EOA, and minimal regurgitation of the aortic valve. Further studies are necessary to evaluate mid- and long-term evolution.

The beneficial effect of anticoagulation in aortic bioprosthesis is associated with its size

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the clinical and echocardiographic outcomes in aortic valve replacement (AVR) patients with aortic bioprosthesis under oral anticoagulation (OA). Methods: Patients who underwent AVR with bioprosthesiswere prospectively enrolled. They were classified based on postoperative use of OA. Clinical and operative variables were collected. Echocardiographic and clinical follow-ups were performed two years after surgery. The primary outcome evaluated was change in transprosthetic gradient. Secondary outcomes analyzed were change in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, major bleeding episodes, hospitalization, stroke, and transient ischemic attack. Results: We included 103 patients (61 without OA and 42 with OA). Clinical characteristics were similar among groups, except for younger age (76±6.3 vs. 72.4±8.1 years, P=0.016) and higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation (0% vs. 23.8%, P<0.001) in the OA group. Mean (21.4±10 mmHg vs. 16.8±7.7 mmHg, P=0.037) and maximum (33.4±13.7 mmHg vs. 28.4±10.2 mmHg, P=0.05) transprosthetic gradients were higher in patients without OA. Improvement in NYHA class was more frequent in patients with OA (73% vs. 45.3%, P=0.032). Major bleeding, stroke, and hospitalization were similar among groups. OA was the only independent predictor for improvement of NYHA class after multivariate logistic regression analysis (odds ratio [OR]: 5.9, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2-29.4; P=0.028). Stratification by prosthesis size showed that patients with ≤ 21 mm prosthesis benefited from OA. Conclusion: Early anticoagulation after AVR with bioprosthesis was associated with significant decrease of transprosthesis gradient and improvement in NYHA class. These associations were seen mainly in patients with ≤ 21 mm prosthesis.