Early Clinical Experience with Sutureless Aortic Valve Replacement for Severe Aortic Stenosis

Background: Sutureless aortic valve replacement (SU-AVR) has been developed as an alternative surgical treatment for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of SU-AVR through an assessment of hemodynamic performance and safety. Methods: From December 2014 to June 2016, a total of 12 consecutive patients with severe AS underwent SU-AVR. The endpoints were overall survival and valve-related complications (paravalvular leakage, valve thrombosis, migration, endocarditis, and permanent pacemaker implantation). The mean follow-up duration was $18.1{\pm}8.6months$. Results: The mean age of the patients was $77.1{\pm}5.8years$ and their mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was $9.2{\pm}17.7$. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp times were $94.5{\pm}37.3$ minutes and $54.9{\pm}12.5minutes$, respectively. Follow-up echocardiography showed good prosthesis function with low transvalvular pressure gradients (mean, $13.9{\pm}8.6mm\;Hg$ and peak, $27.2{\pm}15.0mm\;Hg$) at a mean of $9.9{\pm}4.2months$. No cases of primary paravalvular leakage, valve thrombosis, migration, or endocarditis were reported. A new permanent pacemaker was implanted in 1 patient (8.3%). The 1-year overall survival rate was $83.3%{\pm}10.8%$. Conclusion: Our initial experience with SU-AVR demonstrated excellent early clinical outcomes with good hemodynamic results. However, there was a high incidence of permanent pacemaker implantation compared to the rate for conventional AVR, which is a problem that should be solved.