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Ann Thorac Surg 2003;75:40
© 2003 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Invited commentary

^a Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, The Emory Clinic, 1365 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

e-mail: jcraver@emory.edu

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

With the expanding percentage of our population living into their eighth, ninth, and tenth decades, an increasing number of patients in these age groups are being referred for aortic valve replacement surgery. Aortic stenosis due to late fibrosis with calcific degeneration of malformed valves and senescent calcification of normally structured trileaflet valves, are the problems in the majority of these patients. Both present with a severely narrowed valve orifice and concomitant narrowing with calcification of the aortic annulus and root as well. Even after very careful debridement, the cardiac surgeon often is left with an annulus diameter 17, 19 or 21 mm in size that remains heavily involved . . . [Full Text of this Article]