Figure 1: (A) Computed tomography (CT) axial image with contrast injection in the wound with illustration of the peri-aortic cutaneous fistula (arrow) and the aortic prosthesis. (B) Sagittal CT reconstruction demonstrating the fistula (arrow). (C) Axial CT image of the aortic prosthesis and the omentum plasty. (D) Sagittal image of the omentum plasty and no signs of a fistula. Ao: aorta; Om: om...

OBJECTIVES Sinuses of Valsalva are important in assuring the physiological function of the aortic valve. This study evaluates short-term clinical results of the reimplantation technique for aortic valve-sparing root replacement using a new prosthesis with three separate sinuses of Valsalva (sinus prosthesis). METHODS Between February 2009 and February 2011, a total of 23 patients (20 m/3 f; m...

BACKGROUND Combined aortic valve repair and aortic valve-sparing surgery requires an approach determined by the leaflets and aortic root anatomy. METHODS Among patients referred for aortic root aneurysm, 114 patients underwent an aortic valve-sparing procedure in which a reimplantation or remodelling technique was used. The Gelweave Valsalva prosthesis (Sulzer Vascutek, Renfrewshire, UK) was ...

BACKGROUND The study was designed to evaluate the effects of moderate prosthesis-patient mismatch (defined as 0.65 cm(2)/m(2) <indexed effective orifice area ≤ 0.85 cm(2)/m(2)) on midterm outcomes after isolated aortic valve replacement with a 17-mm St. Jude Medical Regent valve in a large series of patients, and to determine if these effects are influenced by patient confounding variables. M...

Background Imaging of the aortic annulus is paramount for the success of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) to obviate prosthesis size mismatch. The aortic annulus is a dynamic structure with alterations of its ellipsoid shape during the cardiac cycle. The objective of this study was to investigate with cine-MRI the changes of the sagittal and coronal diameter of the aortic annulus ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Although changes in atrioventricular conduction frequently occur after percutaneous implantation of an aortic valve prosthesis, little is known about the mechanisms involved or how these changes progress. We investigated ECG abnormalities and predictors of pacemaker need after percutaneous implantation of the CoreValve® aortic valve prosthesis. METHODS Between Apri...

Aortic valve replacement (AVR) is one of the most commonly performed cardiac surgical procedures. A standardized TEE approach to aortic prosthesis interrogation is helpful but the echocardiographer must also frequently use off-axis imaging and consider additional diagnostic modalities if TEE image quality is suboptimal, if prosthesis visualization is confounded by acoustic shadowing, or if conc...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES To evaluate the predictive value of CT-derived measurements of the aortic annulus for prosthesis sizing in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and to calculate optimal cutoff values for the selection of various prosthesis sizes. METHODS The local IRB waived approval for this single-center retrospective analysis. Of 441 consecutive TAVI-patients, 90 were exclud...

OBJECTIVES Few case studies have shown the feasibility of the prosthesis-sparing operation in patients requiring aortic root replacement after aortic valve replacement. Such technique allows the sparing of a well-functioning aortic valve prosthesis and facilitates the root substitution with only a vascular graft. The aim of the present study was to assess short- and mid-term outcomes of the pat...

Supplementary material (Videos 1 and 2) is available at EJCTS online. Video 1: Transoesophageal echocardiography showing a blockade of one of the leaflets of the mitral valve prosthesis due to a giant pannus formation with a resulting stenosis and insufficiency. Video 2: Fluoroscopy of aortic valve (top) and mitral valve (bottom) prostheses. There is an almost normal motion amplitude of one lea...