Aortic root morphology can cause early bioprosthetic valve failure of externally mounted pericardial bioprosthesis

• Published in: General thoracic and cardiovascular surgery 2021, Vol.69 (1), p.107-109
• Main Authors: Ushijima, Tomoki, Fujita, Satoshi, Shingu, Naoto, Nakata, Yusuke, Matsuyama, Sho, Kimura, Satoshi, Sonoda, Hiromichi, Oishi, Yasuhisa, Tanoue, Yoshihisa, Shiose, Akira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aortic Valve - diagnostic imaging; Aortic Valve - surgery; Bioprosthesis; Calcification; Cardiac Surgery; Cardiology; Case Report; Conflicts of interest; Coronary vessels; Doppler effect; Female; Heart Valve Prosthesis; Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation - adverse effects; Hemodynamics; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Morphology; Prostheses; Prosthesis Design; Prosthesis Failure; Reoperation; Surgical Oncology; Thoracic Surgery
• ISSN: 1863-6705; 1863-6713
• DOI: 10.1007/s11748-020-01402-6

A 73-year-old woman with a narrow aortic root had undergone aortic valve replacement with a 19-mm Mitroflow valve. Aortic annular enlargement with Manouguian’s technique was performed, and the bioprosthesis had been implanted on the tilt in a supra-annular position. Four years after the implantation, echocardiography showed a significant de novo aortic regurgitation, which had not been detected 1 year earlier. In the reoperation, the left coronary leaflet of the bioprosthesis had attached and fused to the wall of the sinus of Valsalva, causing deformation of the valve leaflet and a commissural gap between the left and right coronary leaflets, which appeared to have caused the de novo aortic regurgitation. We assessed the cause of early valve deterioration by focusing on the morphology of the aortic root. Preoperative understanding of the aortic root morphology would help to avoid early valve dysfunction for aortic valve replacement with an externally mounted bioprosthesis.