Demographics and baseline characteristics
Between January 2020 and March 2021, we performed SAVR using the INTUITY Valve System for 38 AS patients at our institution. The mean age of the patients was 74.2 (SD 7.2) years (range 49–84 years), and 10 (26.3%) patients were female. Most patients had a history of hypertension (73.7%) and hyperlipidemia (78.9%). Coronary artery disease, diabetes, and cerebrovascular accidents were present in 36.8%, 34.2%, and 15.8% of patients, respectively. We estimated the predicted operative risk preoperatively through the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation II (EuroSCORE II) and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons scores (STS scores), which showed early mortalities of 2.79 (SD 2.63) and 4.92 (SD 3.85), respectively. Patient baseline characteristics and cardiovascular and systemic comorbidities are listed in Table 1.
The preoperative mean pressure gradient (PG) over the aortic valve was 40 (SD 15.6) mmHg, and the preoperative mean aortic valve area was 0.8 (SD 0.2) cm2. Table 2 shows an overview of the preoperative echocardiographic findings of patients.
We performed RD-AVR via median sternotomies in 28 (65.8%) patients and via upper-hemisternotomies in 13 (34.2%) patients, and there was no case of conversion to other procedures. Concomitant procedures were performed in 13 patients (34.2%). We also performed coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in 9 (23.7%) patients; other procedures are detailed in Table 2. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and cross-clamp times were 196 (SD, 71) and 65 (SD, 24) min, respectively (Table 3).