Aortic valve replacement with 19-mm bileaflet prostheses in the elderly: left ventricular mass regression and quality of life.

Background And Aim Of The Study: The study aim was to evaluate left ventricular mass (LVM) regression, survival and quality of life in elderly patients after aortic valve replacement (AVR) with small-sized bileaflet prostheses.

Methods: Between September 1988 and September 2005, a total of 147 patients aged > 70 years underwent AVR with 19-mm bileaflet prostheses for aortic stenosis. In order to evaluate the impact of prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) on long-term outcome, survivors were allocated to two groups according to the effective orifice area index (EOAI): group A, with EOAI < 0.

Preoperative, postoperative and 1-year follow-up N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels in severe chronic aortic regurgitation: correlations with echocardiographic findings.

B-type natriuretic peptide is synthesized in response to increased ventricular wall stress (WS) and hypertrophy. To serially evaluate amino-terminal-pro-BNP (NT-pBNP) serum levels in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) for severe chronic aortic regurgitation (AR), blood samples were drawn preoperatively, 15 days postoperatively, at 6- and 12-month follow-up in 25 consecutive patients. Two-dimensional echocardiography was performed concomitantly, assessing left ventricular (LV) dimensional and functional parameters, including WS.