小瓣环主动脉瓣替换手术的策略

目的　探讨小瓣环主动脉瓣病变行主动脉瓣替换加瓣环扩大手术的中、远期疗效。方法　对 45例小瓣环主动脉瓣病变患者在主动脉瓣替换时 ,进行瓣环扩大手术。术中探查主动脉瓣瓣环直径 15～ 2 2mm。瓣环扩大方法为Manouguian法 39例 ,Nicks法 5例 ,Konno法 1例。术后患者随访时间为 ( 6 2± 3 4 )年。　结果　本组患者手术死亡 2例 ,无严重的出血并发症 ;平均输血量为376 5ml,11例术后未输血 ;随访无远期死亡。左心室舒张末径较术前有显著缩小 ,而不同瓣环的血液动力学结果差异无显著性。患者NYHA心功能术后较术前明显改善。　结论　小瓣环主动脉瓣病变患者进行主动脉瓣替换的同时 ,应用Manouguian法扩大瓣环 ,近、远期效果良好 ,无血液动力学意义的跨瓣压差 ,是一种安全、有效的术式。     

Long-term survivors after valve replacement with a Starr-Edwards mitral disk valve prosthesis

We report four long-term survivors after valve replacement with a Starr-Edwards (S-E) mitral caged-disk valve. A model 6520 disk valve, size 3M, had been used in all of the four patients. Of the four patients, three underwent replacement of the disk valves 23, 24, and 26 years after mitral valve replacement (MVR), respectively. A pacemaker was implanted in the remaining patient 33 years after MVR. The S-E disk valves were considered hemodynamically slightly stenotic compared with modern bileaflet valves. No disk wear was detected in any of the three explanted valves, and in the remaining patient, a noninvasive evaluation of the disk showed that it was functioning normally. These results suggest the favorable long-term durability of the S-E disk valve.     

Long-term results for aortic valve replacement with small aortic annulus

We determined whether aortic prosthesis size influences survival and hemodynamic function. Eighty-nine patients who underwent small aortic valve replacement were followed. The small internal orifice area index (IOAI) group was defined as having an internal orifice area/body surface area ratio of < or = 1.3 cm(2)/m(2) (n = 34). The control group was defined as having an IOAI >1.3 cm(2)/m(2) (n = 55). The actuarial survival rate at 10 years was 74.5% in the small IOAI group and 75% in the control group (NS). Freedom from valve-related impairment at 10 years was 87% in the small IOAI group and 85% in the control group (NS). Postoperative pressure gradients were higher in the small IOAI group (p < 0.05). Left ventricular mass index decreased in both groups (albeit nonsignificantly in the small group, but significantly decreased in the control group). The long-term results of aortic valve replacement for patients with small aortic annulus were satisfactory. However, the postoperative pressure gradient through the prosthesis and left ventricular hypertrophy remained at a high level in the small IOAI group.     

肥胖对小主动脉瓣人工瓣膜置入术后长期生存的影响

目的 评估肥胖对于小主动脉瓣人工瓣膜(直径≤21 mm)置换术后长期生存率的影响.方法 1998年1月至2008年12月对307例首次接受小号主动脉瓣置换术生存时间超过1个月者进行长期随访.并根据身体质量指数(BMI)划分为3组:BMI＜ 24.0 kg/m2为正常组(185例),BMI 24.0 ～27.9 kg/m2为超重组(94例),BMI≥28 kg/m2为肥胖组(28例).分别在术后第3、6个月,第1、3、5、8年收集NHYA分级,有效瓣口面积指数(EOAI),左心室质量指数(LVMI),左心室射血分数(LVEF)等指标,了解各组中这些指标的变化及组间比较,分析肥胖是否与生存率有关;计算总体死亡率及3组各自死亡率并比较.结果 经过单变量和多变量分析,并通过倾向得分调节,肥胖均为影响生存率的独立危险因子(HR:1.62;P =0.01).长期随访中,肥胖组和超重组生存率较正常组低,而且术后NYHAⅢ/Ⅳ级患者所占比例偏高.3组中肥胖组和超重组EOAI偏小,LVMI偏高,均有统计学意义.但LVEF无明显变化.结论 肥胖和术后长期生存率密切相关,肥胖和超重均可能降低术后的长期生存率.EOAI可能在其中发挥重要作用,提高EOAI会提高术后长期生存率,改善术后长期生存质量.     

Rare prosthesis failure after aortic valve replacement with a Freedom Solo

We report an unusual case of a 78-year-old man readmitted to our Cardiac Surgery Division due to a severe regurgitation of the stentless bioprosthesis Freedom Solo implanted, strictly following the manufacturer's recommendations, approximately six months before for aortic stenosis of native valve. Although different possible etiologies may be determined for the subacute aortic regurgitation of a bioprosthesis, a partial adhesion of a leaflet to the aortic wall represents an exceptional event. The device was explanted, a new different bioprosthesis model was implanted and the patient recovered uneventfully. But no evidence of aortic or leaflet vegetations suggesting for abscess was found, neither atheromatous or calcified plaques, nor signs of inflammation of the aortic wall were detected. In the end, it is believed that the cause of the cuspal adhesion to the aortic sinus was primary tissue failure.     

Long-term results after aortic valve replacement with preserved aortic homografts

Two hundred fifty-nine patients have undergone aortic valve replacement with preserved homograft valves. The total hospital mortality was 16.6%, declining to 4.8% for the years 1968 and 1969. Patients discharged from the hospital have been followed from one and one-half to seven and onehalf years. Of these patients, 71.2% retain the original homograft valve at the time of this analysis. Eighty-five patients have no diastolic murmur, and 38 have trivial aortic regurgitation characterized only by a soft, short diastolic murmur. Valve failure has occurred in 46 of the 259 patients. Degenerative changes such as cusp rupture and calcification were responsible for 28 failures; all may be due to the methods of valve sterilization and preservation. Late mortality related to valve failure was 5.4%.     

Long-term results of conventional aortic valve replacement for small aortic annulus

We studied cardiac function, clinical outcome and quality of life (QOL) long after aortic valve replacement for pure aortic stenosis. Forty-four patients in small group [St. Jude Medical (SJM) 17 HP, 19 A], and 69 patients in non-small group (19 HP, 21 A, 23 A) operated on from 1984 to 2004 were enrolled in this study. We assessed the clinical data, aortic pressure gradient, left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and ejection fraction (EF) by preoperative and postoperative echocardiography. Moreover to evaluate QOL after the operation, we performed SF-36 used for the evaluation of health and QOL worldwide. Mean follow-up is 7.1 +/- 4.8 years in small group, and 6.8 +/- 4.6 years in non-small group. There were 2 hospital deaths in small group, and 1 in non-small group. The actual survival rate at 10-year were 89.2% in small group, and 85.6% in non-small group. There was no significant difference in hospital mortality, LVMI, long-term survival rate, and the scores of SF-36 between the 2 groups. The use of small sized prosthetic valves in patients with small aortic annulus might be justified when there is no patient-prosthesis mismatch.     

Isolated aortic valve replacement. Analysis of factors influencing survival after replacement with the Starr-Edwards prosthesis

A review of 104 consecutive patients who underwent isolated aortic valve replacement with the Starr-Edwards prosthesis is reported. All 104 were followed an average of 3.8 years.Operative mortality was 1.8% and late mortality was 12.7%. The importance of continuous coronary perfusion is emphasized as the single most important factor in achieving a low operative mortality. Patients with pure aortic stenosis had the highest cumulative mortality (18%), followed closely by those with “mixed” lesions (aortic stenosis [AS] and aortic insufficiency [AI]) (16%). Patients in Class IV (N.Y. Heart Association classification) had, as expected, the highest mortality. The single category in which there was the highest incidence of deaths consisted of Class IV patients with mixed lesions (57%).There were 89 survivors, 85 of whom achieved excellent rehabilitation (95%), although almost all still require medication.The Starr-Edwards prosthesis seems to function well over several years. Prosthesis complications were uncommon, and the most frequent cause of late mortality seemed to be myocardial disease itself. Accordingly, any improvement in late results will come from earlier operation, before the myocardium reaches a “point of no return.”     

Ten-year follow-up after valve replacement with the St. Jude Medical prosthesis in children

Since 1979, 50 children, 4 months to 15 years of age, have successfully undergone cardiac valve replacement with the St. Jude Medical prosthesis (St. Jude Medical, Inc., St. Paul, Minn.). There were 24 boys and 26 girls. The valve replaced was mitral in 28 children, aortic in 15, mitral and aortic in 1, and mitral and tricuspid in 1. A left-sided tricuspid valve was replaced in 3 children. Anticoagulant therapy was maintained in all children; 40 children were treated with warfarin, whereas 10 children who underwent aortic or mitral valve replacement were on a regimen of aspirin combined with dipyridamole. The follow-up period, comprising 224 patient-years, ranged from 1 to 10 years. There were four valve-related complications: one from thromboembolism, two from valve thrombosis, and the other one from prosthetic valve endocarditis. Actuarial rate free from all valve-related complications at 10 years was 84.7%. There were four late deaths: one from valve thrombosis and the others from non-valve-related complications. Actuarial survival rate at 10 years was 90.8%. All surviving children are in functional class I, and no child so far has needed replacement of a prosthesis because of somatic growth. These results indicate that the St. Jude Medical prosthesis is a cardiac valve substitute of choice for valve replacement in children.     

The Lillehei-Kaster aortic valve prosthesis. Long-term results in 273 patients with 1253 patient-years of follow-up

The Lillehei-Kaster aortic valve prosthesis was inserted in 313 patients between August 1975 and December 1984. Aortic valve replacement alone was done in 193 patients. Additional procedures included coronary artery bypass grafting in 62 patients, mitral valve replacement in 22, mitral valvuloplasty in 8, and miscellaneous procedures in 28. The 273 patients discharged from the hospital are the basis of this report. They have been followed up for 1253 patient-years. The range of follow-up is 1 to 11 years, and the mean is 4.6 years. The 5-year survival rate for all patients was 68%, whereas for aortic valve replacement alone it was 76%. The incidences of embolism, thrombosis, bleeding, periprosthetic leak, valve infection, and reoperation per 100 patient-years were 1.5, 0.2, 2.0, 0.8, 0.7, and 1.3, respectively. The 5-year rates of freedom from embolism, thrombosis, bleeding, periprosthetic leak, valve infection, reoperation, and any valve-related complication were 94%, 99%, 91%, 96%, 97%, 94%, and 76%, respectively. Four of 16 patients who required reoperation had a properly functioning valve whose effective orifice area was too small for the cardiac output. Each of these valves was of the smaller size. There were no instances of mechanical valve failure. The Lillehei-Kaster aortic valve prosthesis is an excellent aortic valve substitute in the larger sizes. It has an extraordinary record for mechanical durability and an excellent resistance to thromboembolism in patients receiving proper anticoagulation. The incidence of perivalvular leak and infection is similar to that of other prosthetic valves. However, it is not to be recommended in the smaller sizes because of an unfavorable ratio of effective orifice area to tissue diameter.     

Long-term follow-up of supra-annular pulmonary autograft aortic root replacement in patients with bicuspid aortic valve

Objective: The performance of the Ross procedure in the case of geometric mismatch between pulmonary autograft and a bicuspid aortic root has not yet been fully evaluated. To prevent geometrically caused autograft dysfunction, a modification of the surgical technique is necessary. Methods: Between January 1996 and January 2007, 50 patients (33 male, 17 female; mean age 50+/-14 years; range 13-63 years) underwent replacement of a diseased bicuspid aortic valve (stenosis in 14 cases; insufficiency in 21; combined disease in 15) with a Ross procedure. The pulmonary autograft was inserted partially in supra-annular position to correct the geometric mismatch between the deeper base of the non-coronary sinus and the right/left coronary sinus. In 24 of these patients, additional tailoring of the non-coronary sinus was necessary. In eight patients the non-coronary sinus was covered with a glutaraldehyde treated autologous pericardial patch to prevent pseudoaneurysm formation. Patients were followed up 1, 2, 5 and 10 years postoperatively. Results: There were no early or late deaths. There were six reoperations. One patient was reoperated because of persistent severe aortic valve insufficiency 9 months postoperatively. Three patients were reoperated for formation of subannular pseudoaneurysm, 6, 9 and 30 months postoperatively. One patient was reoperated for closure of a paravalvular dehiscence. Another patient was reoperated 1 year postoperatively because of a severe pulmonary stenosis due to excessive calcification of the bioprosthesis. Echocardiographic follow-up of the remaining patients showed no evidence of residual or recurrent pulmonary autograft regurgitation or progression of aortic root dilatation. Conclusion: Autograft replacement of the bicuspid aortic valve is challenging, as the geometric mismatch has to be adjusted. Valve dysfunction is avoided by a supra-annular implantation technique, but pseudoaneurysm formation at the base of the non-coronary sinus is a worrying aspect. Patch reinforcement may solve this issue.     

Patient prosthesis mismatch affects short- and long-term outcomes after aortic valve replacement.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of patient prosthesis mismatch (PPM) and additional risk factors on outcome after aortic valve replacement (AVR). METHODS: Four thousand one hundred and thirty-one patients who were operated between May 1996 and April 2004 were evaluated. One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six patients received bileaflet mechanical AVR and 2275 stented xenograft AVR. PPM was defined as severe if manufacturers effective orifice area (EOA) divided by body surface area (BSA) was <0.65 cm(2)/m(2) and as moderate in the range of 0.65-0.85 cm(2)/m(2). PPM, age, gender, EOA index, emergency indication for surgery (within 24h), EuroSCORE as well as requirement for additional procedures were tested. Univariate (Fisher's exact test) and multivariate logistic regression analysis as well as survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier) were performed. RESULTS: Severe PPM was present in 97 (2.4%) and moderate PPM in 1103 (26.7%) patients. PPM occurs more frequently with xenograft AVR. In-hospital mortality was 5.2% for severe, 10.6% for moderate and 6.9% with no PPM (p=0.018, OR 1.4). Moderate PPM was independently predictive for short- and long-term mortality. Further analysis revealed patient age >70 years (n=1589, p=0.002, OR 1.85), emergency indication (n=374, p<0.001, OR 4.4), EuroSCORE >10 (n=494, p<0.001, OR 4.7) and additional cardiac procedures (n=2049, p<0.001, OR 2.0) as predictors for adverse outcome after AVR. CONCLUSION: Severe PPM is rare; moderate PPM is present in a quarter of patients. PPM has a significant impact on short- and long-term mortality after AVR.