Pledgeted versus nonpledgeted sutures in aortic valve replacement: Insights from a prospective multicenter trial

Figures

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  Five-year outcomes according to the use of pledgets in the propensity score-matched cohort.

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  Figure 1. Kaplan–Meier event rates according to the use of pledgets for patients who underwent aortic valve replacement in the propensity score-matched cohort. Displayed are event rates for the composite outcome of thromboembolism, endocarditis, and major paravalvular leak (top), and for thromboembolism (bottom). The whiskers represent the 95% CI.

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  Figure 2. Kaplan–Meier event rates according to the use of pledgets for patients who underwent aortic valve replacement in the propensity score-matched cohort. Displayed are event rates for endocarditis (top), and for major paravalvular leak (bottom). The whiskers represent the 95% CI.

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  Figure 3. Paravalvular leak over time according to the use of pledgets for patients who underwent aortic valve replacement in the propensity score-matched cohort. The frequencies of paravalvular leak severity categories at different time points are displayed as stacked bars.

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  Figure 4. Pledgeted versus nonpledgeted sutures in aortic valve replacement: insights from a prospective multicenter trial. Outcomes were compared according to the use of pledgeted sutures. Propensity score matching was used to adjust for baseline differences. The images showing the suturing techniques were reproduced from Kirali and colleagues,13 with permission from Elsevier. AVR, Aortic valve replacement.

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  Figure E1. Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials diagram of patients who underwent surgical aortic valve replacement with or without pledgeted sutures. The Avalus bioprosthesis is from Medtronic. SAVR, Surgical aortic valve replacement; PERIGON, PERIcardial SurGical AOrtic Valve ReplacemeNt; AVR, aortic valve replacement.

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  Figure E2. Hemodynamic performance over time according to the use of pledgets for patients who underwent aortic valve replacement in the propensity score-matched cohort. The box plots depict the (A) mean aortic gradient and (B) effective orifice area over time. Data are core lab reported. The boxes are centered at the median, with upper and lower bounds of the box being the 75th and 25th percentiles, respectively. The upper and lower ends of the whiskers represent maximum and minimum values. The circle represents the mean.