Redo aortic root surgery for failure of an aortic homograft is a major technical challenge.

OBJECTIVE: Aortic homografts offer many advantages over prosthetic valves. However, homograft dysfunction due to degeneration or infection may lead to reoperation. Aortic valve replacement in patients who have undergone previous aortic root replacement with an aortic homograft remains a technical challenge. To assess reoperation events a retrospective review was conducted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2000 to October 2006, 20 consecutive patients (38.8+/-14.9 years old) underwent repeat surgery for aortic homograft failure. RESULTS: Reoperation was performed 7.2+/-3.5 years after implantation of the aortic homograft as a root. Indication was homograft degeneration (n=18 [90%]) and endocarditis (n=2 [10%]). In patients with major homograft wall calcifications or endocarditis, nine aortic root reconstructions were performed (Bentall procedure n=7; homograft implantation n=2). Each homograft was dissected with electrical cauterization and removed 'en-bloc' sparing the coronary buttons. In case of flexible homograft wall, stented prostheses (mechanical n=10, bioprosthesis n=1) were implanted along the homograft annulus. Additional procedures consisted of mitral valve replacements (n=8), tricuspid repairs (n=4), Konno procedure (n=1) and coronary bypass (n=5). Perioperative complications occurred in seven (35%) patients: sternal re-entry accident (n=2); reoperations for mediastinitis (n=1) or bleeding (n=2); renal insufficiency (n=1); total heart block (n=1). No association was found between operative procedures and postoperative complications (Fisher's exact test). Two patients (10%) died from multiorgan failure in the early postoperative period. In total, 94.4% of the survivors remained free from reoperation at 74 months. CONCLUSION: Reoperation on patients with an aortic homograft as a root presents a relatively high perioperative morbidity. The surgical strategy depends on the degree of homograft wall calcification.

A new aortoventriculoplasty for prosthetic aortic valve replacement.

BACKGROUND: Konno aortoventriculoplasty demands a complex double patch reconstruction of left and right ventricular outflow tracts and is subjected to a risk of permanent heart block. A modified technique was used to overcome these difficulties. Patient and methods A 42-year-old woman with congenital aortic stenosis, a diminutive aortic annulus, and severe subaortic muscular obstruction had undergone aortic valve commissurotomy 24 years ago. At reoperation, a 19-mm St Jude Medical sizer had a very tight fit after removal of the calcified aortic valve. To enlarge the aortic annulus and septum, the pulmonary artery valve was first partly separated from the right ventricle, exposing the interventricular septum. The aortic wall, annulus, and septum were then split along the intercoronary commissure, a location that clears the aortoventriculoplasty from the path of the major conducting tissue. Once the septum was reconstructed with a Dacron patch, the enlarged orifice accepted a St Jude Medical Flex 23. The mobilized pulmonary artery valve was then sutured back to its original position, only changed by the width of the septal Dacron patch. RESULT: Discharge echocardiogram recorded a 7 mm Hg mean transprosthetic gradient with a normally functioning pulmonary valve. The electrocardiogram showed permanent sinus rhythm. CONCLUSIONS: The described aortoventriculoplasty has several advantages, including: a simple exposure obtained by partly separating the pulmonary artery valve from the right ventricle; clear septal opening landmarks that avoid the conducting tissue; easy reconstruction with a single septal patch; and an anatomically restored right ventricular outflow tract.

The Stentless Cryo-Life O'Brien porcine aortic valve at 10 years.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: If stentless devices--with their physiological advantages--are to remain attractive, their long-term durability must equate with that of reference stented valves. METHODS: Between August 1991 and August 2001, 650 patients (mean age 72.0+/-4.2 years) received a Cryo-Life O'Brien Stentless aortic porcine bioprosthesis. The mean follow up was 4.6 years; total follow up was 2,644 patient-years (pt-yr). Among patients, 79% were in NYHA classes III-IV. Calcific aortic stenosis accounted for 93% of patients, who were predominantly female (75%), with associated coronary surgery in 19% and mitral surgery in 10.3%. Follow up was based on serial echocardiography, referring cardiologists' reports, and direct home telephone calls. Data were gathered over a six-month period. RESULTS: Operative mortality was 8.1% (n = 51). Of these deaths, 2.7% were in isolated cases (mean age 72.0+/-4.2 years) and 14% with associated procedures (mean age 77.0+/-5.3 years). There were 103 late deaths (3.9% per pt-yr). Valve-related complications included 14 deaths (linearized rate 0.52% per pt-yr), reoperation in 22 (0.8% per pt-yr), eight operated valvular endocarditis (0.3% per pt-yr), two valve thrombosis (0.07% per pt-yr), 11 embolic events (0.3% per pt-yr), and 14 anticoagulant-related bleeding (0.52% per pt-yr). Actuarial survival was 76+/-6% at 10 years, with a freedom from structural deterioration of 99.75% in patients aged > or =65 years (mean age 76+/-8 years), and 86% in patients aged <65 years (mean age 44+/-15 years). The gradients remained low, and the echocardiographic aspect was close to that of a normal valve. CONCLUSION: At 10 years, the Cryo-Life O'Brien Stentless provided excellent results in terms of durability associated with all the stentless advantages relating to physiology--gradients, orifice areas, and mass regression--that translate into an appropriately adapted left ventricular exertion profile.

Bartonella endocarditis complicating congenital heart disease.

The present report describes a case of Bartonella henselae endocarditis affecting an adolescent with congenital heart disease. A teenager from Eastern Europe was referred to for surgical treatment of aortic endocarditis. She admitted close contact with cats. Blood culture was negative. Diagnosis of B henselae was established on direct PCR amplification and 16SrRNA gene sequencing of the aortic valve tissue and confirmed after 4 weeks by valve culture isolate. The patient underwent extended root replacement (the Ross-Konno operation) with a favourable outcome.