Surgery of the Ascending Aorta with or without Combined Procedures through an Upper Ministernotomy: Outcomes of a Series of More Than 100 Patients.

BACKGROUND Use of a minimally invasive approach for isolated aortic valve surgery is increasing. However, management of the root and/or ascending aorta through a mini-invasive incision is not so frequent. The aim of this study is to report our initial experience with surgery of the ascending aorta through a ministernotomy approach. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 102 patients treated for ascending aorta disease through a ministernotomy. Several types of surgeries were performed, including isolated or combined surgical procedures. Pre-operative and operative parameters and in-hospital clinical outcomes were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS Patient mean age was 63.9 ± 13.6 years (range 29-85). There were 33 (32.4%) female and 69 (67.6%) male patients. Preoperative logistic EuroSCORE I was 7.4% ± 2.1%. Mean cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp time were 123.7 ± 36.9 and 100.8 ± 27.5 min, respectively. In-hospital mortality was 0%. CONCLUSIONS Our experience shows that surgery of the ascending aorta with or without combined procedures can be safely performed through an upper ministernotomy, without compromising surgical results. Although our series is not large, we believe that the experience gained on the isolated aortic valve through a ministernotomy can be safely reproduced in ascending aorta surgery as a routine practice.