Aortic valve replacement using a stentless bioprosthesis through right minithoracotomy: An initial experience

Right minithoracotomy versus full sternotomy for the aortic valve replacement: Preliminary results

“…• the full sternotomy in case of aortic valve disease combined to other surgery; • the upper sternotomy in case of significant ascending aorta elongation with downwards aortic valve (below the 3rd ICS); • the RM in case of normal or mildly elongated ascending aorta [15].…”

Long-term follow-up of stentless prosthesis

“…The operative mortality in our series (8 patients, 5.8%) is quite high compared to recent papers describing the minimally invasive approaches [1,4,11] and it may depend on the different techniques used more than 20 years ago. The innovations over the years led to a significant reduction in mortality and morbidity of patients operated on for AVR.…”

“…We have recently reported our initial experience using the stentless prosthesis through a right thoracotomy, achieving appreciable results in terms of morbidity and mortality in the short term [1]. Since there is a long experience in our division with the stentless prosthesis that started to be used in the early 1990s and because there is lack of data concerning the long-term follow-up of these prostheses, we analyzed the results achieved at our institution after a long follow-up of 11.3 ± 1.6 years.…”

“…Aortic valve replacement (AVR) is a safe procedure with significant improvements in survival for patients affected by aortic valve disease. Stentless prostheses are widely accepted as a safe option mainly for the elderly affected by aortic stenosis with heavy calcified annulus [1].…”