Giant aortic root pseudoaneurysm surrounding the left main coronary artery.

A 69-year-old patient underwent an urgent aortic valve replacement because of Streptococcus agalactiae endocarditis of his native aortic valve. Since a rapid progression of the former abscess cavity into an aortic root pseudoaneurysm with increasing paravalvular regurgitation during postoperative follow-up, reoperation was performed. In the preoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) images the pseudoaneurysm completely surrounds the left coronary artery (LCA) without any signs of myocardial ischemia.

Can postoperative mean transprosthetic pressure gradient predict survival after aortic valve replacement?

Background: In this study, we sought to determine the effect of the mean transprosthetic pressure gradient (TPG), measured at 6 weeks after aortic valve replacement (AVR) or AVR with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) on late all-cause mortality.

Methods: Between January 1998 and March 2012, 2,276 patients (mean age 68 ± 11 years) underwent TPG analysis at 6 weeks after AVR (n = 1,318) or AVR with CABG (n = 958) at a single institution. Mean TPG was 11.

Impact of prosthesis-patient mismatch on early and late mortality after aortic valve replacement.

Background: The influence of prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) on survival after aortic valve replacement (AVR) remains controversial. In this study, we sought to determine the effect of PPM on early (≤30 days) and late mortality (>30 days) after AVR or AVR combined with coronary artery bypass grafting (AVR with CABG).

Methods: Between January 1998 and March 2012, 2976 patients underwent AVR (n= 1718) or AVR with CABG (n=1258) at a single institution.