Endoscopic aortic valve surgery in isolated and concomitant procedures.

Abstract

To evaluate early outcomes of endoscopic aortic valve replacement and risks of concomitant procedures done through the same working port. At our institution we performed a data analysis of 342 consecutive patients (from July 2013 to May 2021) that underwent endoscopic aortic valve replacement with or without associated major procedure. Pre-operative, intraoperative, post-operative data were evaluated. Subsequently we perform a comparative analysis between the isolated and concomitant surgery group. The surgical access was a 3-4 cm working port in the second right intercostal space and 3 additional 5 mm mini-ports for the introduction of the thoracoscope, the transthoracic clamp and the vent line. Cardiopulmonary by-pass was achieved through peripheral cannulation. 105 patients (30.7%) underwent combined procedure: 2 coronary artery bypass (1.9%), 21 ascending aorta replacement (19.6%), 41 mitral surgery (38.3%), 16 mitral and tricuspid surgery (15%), 25 other procedure (27%). Death occurred in 1 patient (0.4%) in the isolated group versus 2 patients (1.9%) in the combined group (p = 0.175). Seven strokes were observed, 4 in isolated procedures (1.7%) and 3 in the concomitant ones (2.85%) (p = 0.481). Surgical revision for bleeding was performed always through the same access in 13 patients (5.4%) versus 11 patients (10.4%) (p = 0.096). Pace maker implantation was necessary in 5 patients (2.1%) versus 8 patients (7,6%) (p = 0.014). Median intubation time was 5 [2] hours versus 6 [8] (p < 0.080). Through a single working port made for endoscopic aortic valve replacement a concomitant procedure may be done without affecting in-hospital mortality and post-operative stroke rate.