Surgical treatment of aortic valve endocarditis with aortic annular involvement: a 26-years experience

Background: In this study, we report early and late results of surgical treatment of aortic valve endocarditis with aortic annular involvement. Methods: Between December 1985 and January 2011, 42 consecutive patients (32 males, 10 females; mean age 39.0±13.3 years; range 16 to 67 years) were retrospectively analyzed in terms of surgical findings and operative procedures. The blood cultures were positive in 25 patients (59.5%) and the most commonly identified microorganism was streptococcus (n=15, 35.7%). Fourteen patients (33.3%) had a medical history of previous cardiac surgery and 13 (31.0%) had prosthetic valve endocarditis. The mean duration of follow-up were 7.9±4.4 years (range 0.1 to 18.2 years). Results: All patients underwent a total of 64 surgical procedures. The most commonly performed procedure was aortic valve replacement with 26 patients (61.9%), followed by aortic root replacement in 15 (35.7%) and primary repair of periprosthetic leakage in one patient (2.4%). Nine patients (21.4%) had concomitant procedures for the mitral valve. In-hospital mortality was seen in nine patients (21.4%). Postoperatively seven patients had (16.7%) low cardiac output, six had (14.3%) heart block, however, only two of them required permanent pacemaker. The actuarial survival rates at one, five and 10 years were 80.0±6.3%, 69.9±7.3% and 64.9±8.3%, respectively. Conclusion: Although surgery for aortic valve endocarditis with annular involvement has high in-hospital mortality rate, long-term survival is satisfactory for surviving patients.