Effect of surgeon on transprosthetic gradients after aortic valve replacement with Freestyle stentless bioprosthesis and its consequences: a follow-up study in 587 patients.

Background: The implantation of stentless valves is technically demanding and the outcome may depend on the performance of surgeons. We studied systematically the role of surgeons and other possible determinants for mid-term survival, postoperative gradients and Quality of Life (QoL) after aortic valve replacement (AVR) with Freestyle stentless bioprostheses.

Methods: Between 1996 and 2003, 587 patients (mean 75 years) underwent AVR with stentless Medtronic Freestyle(R) bioprostheses.