Role of the sinuses of Valsalva on the opening of the aortic valve.

Objective: The present in vitro study was designed to ascertain whether the presence of sinuses of Valsalva in the aortic root were able to regulate the valve effective orifice area and modulate the gradient across the valve independently from root compliance.

Methods: Four different root configurations were prepared. Of the 4, 2 were silicon configurations with the same compliance, 1 with and 1 without sinuses of Valsalva, in which a 25-mm Solo stentless aortic valve was sutured inside.