Supracommissural replacement of the ascending aorta and the aortic valve via partial versus full sternotomy-a propensity-matched comparison in a high-volume centre.

Objectives: Full sternotomy (FS) is the common surgical access for patients undergoing open aortic valve replacement (AVR) with concomitant supracommissural replacement of the tubular ascending aorta. Since minimally invasive approaches are being used with increasing frequency in cardiac surgery, the aim of this study was to compare outcomes of patients undergoing AVR with supracommissural replacement of the tubular ascending aorta via FS versus partial upper sternotomy (PS).

Methods: We included all patients who underwent elective AVR with concomitant supracommissural replacement of the tubular ascending aorta at our institution between 2000 and 2015. Exclusion criteria were emergency surgery, other major concomitant procedures and reoperations. After 2:1 propensity score matching, outcomes of patients with PS and FS were compared.

Results: A total of 652 consecutive patients were included, 117 patients operated via PS and 234 patients operated via FS. Cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic cross-clamp time of the PS and FS groups were 89 vs 92 min (P = 0.2) and 65 vs 70 min (P = 0.3), respectively. Postoperative morbidity was low and there were no significant differences in postoperative outcomes between patient groups. In-hospital mortality was 1.7% in the PS vs 0.4% in the FS group (P = 0.3). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed no difference in mid-term survival (P = 0.3). Reoperation rates for valve or aortic complications were very low with no significant difference between groups.

Conclusions: In a high-volume centre with extensive experience in minimally invasive cardiac surgery, AVR with concomitant supracommissural replacement of the tubular ascending aorta via PS results in similar outcomes with regard to safety and longevity when compared to conventional FS.