Reproducible and Reliable Modified Technique of Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement That Decreases the Incidence of Permanent Pace Maker Implantation

In the last few years, a significant increase in the number of patients with aortic stenosis requiring surgical or transcatheter aortic replacement (SAVR) or (TAVR) has been observed due to the larger aging population. Conduction disturbances requiring permanent pace maker implantation (PPMI) has been observed after SAVR and TAVR. In fact the incidence of PPMI following SAVR reached 11 to 13% while it occurred in7 to 36% of patients undergoing TAVR. The majority of rhythm problems are secondary to a significant trauma to the conduction system. In order to decrease the incidence of PPMI in patients undergoing SAVR, we developed a modified technique of SAVR that we applied on a group of 63 patients (group B) and we compared the incidence of PPMI in this group to the one observed in a second group of 62 patients who underwent the classic SAVR (group A). It was significantly lower in group B (3.2% vs 14.5%). In conclusion, The low incidence of PPMI (3.2%) observed in the modified SAVR group encourages us to recommend this technique in all patients undergoing biological SAVR especially that this technique is simple to apply highly reproducible and reliable. However, further multicenter and larger studies will help confirm our findings.