Aortic Valve Replacement in Young Adults

Worldwide the incidence and burden of heart valve disease is increasing due to aging of the world population and the problem of rheumatic cardiac disease in developing countries and in parts of the population in the developed world.1 Between 2007 and 2050 the world population will increase from 6.5 to 9.1 billion inhabitants.1 Furthermore, the annual number of patients requiring heart valve replacement is estimated to triple from approximately 290,000 in 2003, to over 850,000 by 2050.2 In the Netherlands cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death. According to the annual report of the Dutch Heart Association, 308.828 patients required admission due to cardiovascular disease in the Netherlands in 2004 of which 7286 patients were admitted due to rheumatic heart disease or valve disease (2.4%). Subsequently, 1449 patients died of heart valve disease (3.2%).3 Furthermore, approximately 3000 patients require valve replacement due to aortic valve disease per year in the Netherlands

Re-operations for aortic allograft root failure: experience from a 21-year single-center prospective follow-up study

Objective: The study aims to report results of re-operations after aortic allograft root implantation. Methods: All consecutive patients in our prospective allograft database, who underwent aortic allograft root implantation, were selected for analysis, and additional information for patients who subsequently underwent re-operation was obtained from hospital records. Results: From 1989 to 2009, 262 aortic allograft root implantations were performed. Thirty-day mortality was 5.7%. During follow-up, 69 patients died. The actuarial survival was 77.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) 71-83%) after 10 years, and 65.1% (95% CI 57-74%) after 14 years. A total of 52 patients required re-operation. The actuarial freedom from allograft re-operation was 82.9% (Standard Error (SE) 2.9%) after 10 years and 55.7% (SE 5.7%) after 14 years. The actuarial median time to re-operation was 14.8 years. The indications for re-operation were structural valve dysfunction in 46 patients, endocarditis in two patients and non-structural valve dysfunction in four patients. The re-operations included 23 aortic valve replacements (mechanical prostheses 20 and bioprostheses 3), 27 aortic root replacements (mechanical conduits 21, aortic allografts five, and biological conduit one), one trans-apical valve implantation and one primary closure of a false aneurysm. The additional procedures were mitral valve repair (N = 5), mitral valve replacement (N = 1), ascending aortic replacement (N = 5), and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) (N = 4; in two patients unforeseen). Thirty-day mortality after re-operation occurred in two patients (3.9%). Five patients died during follow-up. The survival after re-operation was 87.1% (SE 5.5%) after 1 year and 79.3% (SE 7.4%) after 9 years. Conclusions: Re-operations after aortic allograft root implantation will be required in a substantial and growing number of patients. These re-operations, although technically demanding, can be performed with satisfying results. (C) 2010 European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved