Short-term follow up with the 3f Enable aortic bioprosthesis: clinical and echocardiographic results.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: High-risk patients referred for aortic valve replacement (AVR) may benefit from sutureless technology in order to reduce mortality and morbidity. Herein is described the authors' initial experience and short-term results of the sutureless 3f Enable aortic bioprosthesis.

METHODS: A total of 28 patients (19 females, nine males; mean age 76.8 +/- 5.1 years; range: 66 to 86 years) with symptomatic aortic valve disease underwent AVR with the 3f Enable bioprosthesis between May 2010 and May 2011. Preoperatively, the mean logistic EuroSCORE was 13.7 +/- 10.8%. Concomitant procedures included mitral valve replacement (n = 1), tricuspid valve repair (n = 3) and coronary artery bypass grafting (n = 5). Echocardiography was performed preoperatively, at postoperative day 1, at discharge, and at follow up.

RESULTS: The in-hospital mortality was 3.5% (1/28). Seventeen patients underwent minimally invasive AVR via an upper partial ministernotomy (n = 13) or a right anterior minithoracotomy (n = 4) approach. The cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and aortic cross-clamp (ACC) times were 99.4 +/- 22.9 and 65.9 +/- 18.0 min, respectively, for isolated AVR, and 138.8 +/- 62.2 and 100.5 +/- 52.2 min, respectively, for combined procedures. One patient underwent aortic root replacement for an intimal aortic lesion after sutureless implantation. At a median follow up of four months (range: 2-10 months), survival was 96.5%, freedom from reoperation was 96.5%, and the mean transvalvular pressure gradient was 11.1 +/- 5.4 mmHg.

CONCLUSION: AVR with the 3f Enable bioprosthesis in high-risk patients is a safe and feasible procedure that is associated with a low mortality and excellent hemodynamic performance.