MINIMALLY INVASIVE ENDOSCOPIC AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT: OPERATIVE RESULTS.

To describe our endoscopic aortic valve replacement (E-AVR) technique and to evaluate its early results regardless of the type of prosthetic valve implanted and the patients' characteristics. From July 2013 to September 2018, 125 patients (76 males, mean age 68.8±10.9 years, mean EuroScore II 1.51±1.39) underwent isolated E-AVR due to a severe stenosis in 99 cases and insufficiency in 26 cases. The surgical access was a 3-4 cm working port in the second right intercostal space with no-rib spreading and three additional 5 mm mini-ports for the introduction of a 30-degree thoracoscope, the Chitwood clamp and the vent line. Cardiopulmonary by-pass (CPB) was achieved through a femoro-femoral cannulation. All patients successfully underwent E-AVR. Stended bioprostheses were implanted in 56 cases, Rapid Deployment and Sutureless valves in 23 and 46 cases respectively. Mean cross-clamping and CPB times were 87.5±22.1 and 126.1±28.4 minutes respectively and a significant difference between the types of prostheses was observed: 69.1±15.1 and 106.2±21.8 minutes (Sutureless) vs 93.2±15.1 and 135.5±21.8 minutes (Rapid Deployment) vs 100.6±17.2 and 138.9±21.9 minutes (Stented). Mean ventilation and ICU times and hospital stay were 10.9±39.3 hours, 45.9±58.4 hours and 8.3±9.3 days respectively. Thirty-day mortality was 0.8%. One patient (0.8%) needed a re-exploration for bleeding and three patients (2.4%) required a new permanent pacemaker implantation. No major neurologic events were observed. No paravalvular leakage was detected at discharge. E-AVR is associated with low mortality and few complications. Sutureless bioprostheses significantly reduce cross-clamping and CPB times. In dedicated Centers this approach may become a valid alternative to other minimally invasive techniques.