The mini-Bentall approach: Comparison with full sternotomy.

Background: The upper mini sternotomy Bentall (mini-Bentall) procedure may result in less trauma and earlier recovery compared with the full sternotomy Bentall procedure (full Bentall). This study compares immediate and 1- and 3-year survival rates after mini- and full Bentall procedures.

Methods: Between February 2009 and July 2019, 48 patients underwent a mini-Bentall and 49 underwent a full Bentall. Patients who required concomitant procedures, reoperations, or hypothermic circulatory arrest were excluded from our analysis. The mean patient age was 60.7 years in the mini-Bentall group and 59.0 years in the full Bentall group.

Results: There were no in-hospital mortalities. The median cardiopulmonary bypass time (mini-Bentall: 165 minutes [interquartile range (IQR), 155.5-183 minutes]; full Bentall: 164 minutes [IQR, 150-187 minutes];  = .619) and aortic cross-clamp times (139 minutes [IQR, 128.5-153 minutes] vs 137 minutes [IQR, 125-156 minutes];  = .948) were not significantly different between the 2 groups. The mini-Bentall group had a significantly shorter median ventilation time compared with the full Bentall group (5.5 hours [IQR, 3-14 hours] vs 17 hours [IQR, 11-23 hours];  < .001). None of the patients in the mini-Bentall group had postoperative bleeding necessitating reoperation, whereas 4 patients (8.2%) underwent reoperation after full Bentall ( = .043). The mini-Bentall group also had a shorter median hospital length of stay (6 days [IQR, 5-8 days] vs 7 days [IQR, 6-8 days];  = .086). Survival at 1 and 3 years was 100% in both cohorts.

Conclusions: Patients required significantly less ventilation time and reoperations for bleeding after the mini-Bentall procedure. There were no significant differences in cardiopulmonary bypass, aortic cross-clamp times, or intensive care unit and hospital length of stay between the mini-Bentall and full Bentall groups. The mini-Bentall approach is associated with low morbidity and mortality.