The stentless cryolife-O’Brien aortic porcine xenograft: a 5-year follow-up

Abstract

Background. The 5-year follow-up of CryoLife-O’Brien stentless porcine aortic valve xenografts is presented. Methods. From August 1991 to August 1996, the valve was used in 366 patients. Patients’ ages ranged from 18 to 90 years (mean, 73 ± 6 years). Survivors were monitored with Doppler echocardiography before discharge, at 6 months, and then annually by the referring cardiologist. Operative and long-term mortality and morbidity were collected using the Edmunds guidelines for reporting morbidity and mortality after cardiac valvular operations. Results. The study was completed during a 6-month period with a 96.5% follow-up, comprising 999 patient-years for a mean follow-up period of 27 months (range, 3 to 64 months). Operative mortality was 6.5%. Linearized rates per patient-year for complications were as follows: structural valve deterioration (0%); thromboembolism (0.5%); prosthetic valve endocarditis (0.2%); valve reoperation (0.8%); and valve-related mortality (0.2%). Sixteen late deaths have occurred. The actuarial survival rate at 5 years was 83% ± 3.5%. Conclusions. The Cryolife-O’Brien stentless valve has given excellent early hemodynamic and 5-year results.