HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Fabrizio Settepani Wilson Y. Szeto Davide Pacini Ruggero De Paulis Luigi Chiariello Roberto Di Bartolomeo Roberto Gallotti Joseph E. Bavaria Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Settepani, F. Articles by Bavaria, J. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Settepani, F. Articles by Bavaria, J. E.

Ann Thorac Surg 2007;83:S769-S773
© 2007 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

---

Supplement

Reimplantation Valve-Sparing Aortic Root Replacement in Marfan Syndrome Using the Valsalva Conduit: An Intercontinental Multicenter Study

^a Cardiac Surgery Department, Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Rozzano, Italy
^b Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
^c Cardiac Surgery Department, University of Bologna, Bologna
^d Cardiac Surgery Department, Tor Vergata University, Roma, Italy

Accepted for publication October 24, 2006.

^_* Address correspondence to Dr Settepani, Department of Cardiac Surgery, Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Via Manzoni 56, 20089 Rozzano (MI), Italy. (Email: fabrizio.settepani{at}humanitas.it).

Presented at Aortic Surgery Symposium X, New York, NY, April 27–28, 2006.

BACKGROUND: Introduced by DePaulis in 2000, the Gelweave Valsalva graft (Sulzer Vascutek, Refrewshire, Scotland) is a modified Dacron conduit (DuPont, Wilmington, DE), with prefashioned sinuses of Valsalva. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mid-term results of the reimplantation valve-sparing aortic root replacement using the Gelweave Valsalva prosthesis in Marfan syndrome patients.

METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of 35 patients with Marfan syndrome in four centers who underwent the reimplantation valve-sparing aortic root replacement using the Gelweave Valsalva prosthesis.

RESULTS: The patients were predominantly men, with a mean age of 36.5 ± 12.6 years (range, 14 to 62 years). Two patients presented with acute type A dissections and underwent emergent operations. Elective hemiarch reconstruction using hypothermic circulatory arrest was required in 11 patients. Aortic valve cusp repair was performed in 2 patients. There were no operative or hospital deaths, and no patients died during follow-up. The mean follow-up was 19 months (range, 1 to 60 months). Significant (>2+) aortic insufficiency (AI), requiring aortic valve replacement, developed in 3 patients during follow-up that requiring aortic valve replacement. The 5-year freedom from reoperation owing to structural valve deterioration was 88.9% ± 8.1%. There were no episodes of clinically significant thromboembolism.

CONCLUSIONS: Reimplantation valve-sparing aortic root replacement with the Gelweave Valsalva prosthesis in Marfan patients provides satisfactory mid-term results, thus encouraging further use of this type of repair. However, long-term results are needed in order to define the durability of this technique.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. D. Pearson, R. Devereux, B. Loeys, C. Maslen, D. Milewicz, R. Pyeritz, F. Ramirez, D. Rifkin, L. Sakai, L. Svensson, et al. Report of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and National Marfan Foundation Working Group on Research in Marfan Syndrome and Related Disorders Circulation, August 12, 2008; 118(7): 785 - 791. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. G. Keane and R. E. Pyeritz Medical Management of Marfan Syndrome Circulation, May 27, 2008; 117(21): 2802 - 2813. [Full Text] [PDF]