Elective David I Procedure Has Excellent Long-Term Results: 20-Year Single-Center Experience.

Background: We present our results after elective, isolated David I procedures over the past 20 years.

Methods: Between 1993 and 2015, 197 patients (mean age 46 ± 17 years, 73% men) underwent isolated aortic valve reimplantation using straight tube grafts (David I procedure). Sixty patients (31%) had Marfan syndrome, and 24 (12%) had a bicuspid aortic valve.

Single-centre experience with the frozen elephant trunk technique in 251 patients over 15 years.

Objectives: Our goal was to present our 15-year experience (2001-2015) with the frozen elephant trunk (FET) technique.

Methods: A total of 251 patients (82 with aortic aneurysms, 96 with acute aortic dissection type A, 4 with acute type B dissections, 52 with chronic aortic dissection type A, 17 with chronic type B dissection and 67 redo cases) underwent FET implantation with either the custom-made Chavan-Haverich (n = 66), the Jotec E-vita (n = 31) or the Vascutek Thoraflex hybrid (n = 154) prosthesis. The cases were assigned to an early period (2001-2011) and a contemporary period (2012-present).

Total aortic arch replacement with a novel 4-branched frozen elephant trunk prosthesis: Single-center results of the first 100 patients.

Objective: Combined disease of the aortic arch and the proximal descending aorta remains a surgical challenge. The Thoraflex Hybrid graft (Vascutek, Inchinnan, United Kingdom) consists of a 4-branched graft with a stent graft at the distal end allowing a total aortic arch replacement, including the origins of the supra-aortic vessels combined with endoluminal treatment of the proximal descending aorta. We present the midterm results of our first 100 patients who were treated with this frozen elephant trunk prosthesis.

Is Bentall Procedure Still the Gold Standard for Acute Aortic Dissection with Aortic Root Involvement?

Introduction: The "ideal" treatment of acute aortic dissection type A (AADA) with dissected and dilated root is controversial. We compared the outcome of classical Bentall procedure (biological and mechanical) with valve-sparing David procedure.

Methods: Between January 2002 and July 2011, 119 patients with AADA and aortic root involvement underwent surgery at our center.