Rapid Deployment Valves in Aortic Valve Replacement: Is Brevity the Soul of It?

Abstract

In this issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Wiedemann and colleagues1 from Vienna, Austria, present their clinical experience with anterior right thoracotomy and the Intuity (Edwards Lifesciences) rapid deployment aortic valve (RDV).1 In their single-institution, nonrandomized group of patients, the authors demonstrate commendable results with an inhospital mortality of 0.6%, a 10.3% rate of permanent pacemaker implantation, and nearly 90% of patients without any paravalvular regurgitation at 11 months’ median follow-up.