At a time when the value of performing aortic valve replacement surgery on elderly patients with aortic stenosis (AS) was being questioned, we reported our findings of a formal decision analysis entitled “You’re Never Too Old” (1) that revealed survival benefit of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in symptomatic elderly AS patients. SAVR is currently widely accepted as a treatment of oth...

Partial upper re-sternotomy for aortic valve replacement or re-replacement after previous cardiac surgery. Aortic valve surgery after previous coronary artery bypass grafting with functioning internal mammary artery grafts. Do you need to clamp a patent left internal thoracic artery left anterior descending graft in reoperative cardiac surgery? Ann Thorac Surg 2009;87:742–747. w9x Sutherland FW...

A 74-year-old woman with severe aortic regurgitation, moderate mitral regurgitation, coronary artery disease status post bypass with left internal mammary artery to the left anterior descending coronary artery, and severe emphysema was deemed inoperable for open aortic valve replacement and underwent elective transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Because of the lack of annular calcium, the re...

Elective root replacement in Marfan syndrome has improved life expectancy in affected patients. Three forms of surgery are now available: total root replacement (TRR) with a valved conduit, valve sparing root replacement (VSRR) and personalised external aortic root support (PEARS) with a macroporous mesh sleeve. TRR can be performed irrespective of aortic dimensions and a mechanical replacement...

Aortic regurgitation (AR) is not a rare complication of Takayasu's disease and is now considered as an important risk factor related to mortality. Aortic-valve replacement surgery is the only curative treatment, but cardiac function and mortality after surgery have not been reported, so a follow-up study in 10 patients with Takayasu's disease complicated by AR was performed. Six patients underw...

We present the case of a 22-year-old man with a congenital mixed aortic valve dysfunction who underwent cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for the assessment of aortic valve morphology and function prior to valve replacement. Cardiac MRI showed a four-leaf-clover aortic valve morphology, the typical presentation of a quadricuspid aortic valve. The patient underwent a successful Bentall pr...

In this case we illustrate our experience with transapical minimal invasive aortic valve replacement in a patient who previously underwent mitral valve replacement. The implantation did not interfere with the existing prosthesis and could even be used as a further landmark, helping height positioning of the aortic valve.

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a rare disease characterized by occlusive intracranial arteriopathy with formation of abnormal cerebrovascular collateral networks. Conventional cardiovascular surgical procedures using cardiopulmonary bypass for patients with MMD is challenging because low cerebral perfusion pressure and nonpulsatile (continuous) flow during cardiopulmonary bypass can cause severe cer...