Aortic valve replacement using continuous suture technique in patients with aortic valve disease

• Published in: The Korean journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 249 - 255
• Main Authors: Choi, Jong Bum, Kim, Jong Hun, Park, Hyun Kyu, Kim, Kyung Hwa, Kim, Min Ho, Kuh, Ja Hong, Jo, Jung Ku
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 01.08.2013
• Subjects: Clinical Research; Surgical procedure, operative; Suture techniques; Aortic valve; Outcome assessment
• ISSN: 2233-601X; 2093-6516
• DOI: 10.5090/kjtcs.2013.46.4.249

The continuous suture (CS) technique has several advantages as a method for simple, fast, and secure aortic valve replacement (AVR). We used a simple CS technique without the use of a pledget for AVR and evaluated the surgical outcomes. Between October 2007 and 2012, 123 patients with aortic valve disease underwent AVR alone (n=28) or with other concomitant cardiac procedures (n=95), such as mitral, tricuspid, or aortic surgery. The patients were divided into two groups: the interrupted suture (IS) group (n=47), in which the conventional IS technique was used, and the CS group (n=76), in which the simple CS technique was used. There were two hospital deaths (1.6%), which were not related to the suture technique. There were no significant differences in cardiopulmonary bypass time or aortic cross-clamp time between the two groups for AVR alone or AVR with concomitant cardiac procedures. In the IS group, two patients had prosthetic endocarditis and one patient experienced significant perivalvular leak. These patients underwent reoperations. In the CS group, there were no complications related to the surgery. Postoperatively, the two groups had similar aortic valve gradients. The simple CS method is useful and secure for AVR in patients with aortic valve disease, and it may minimize surgical complications, as neither pledgets nor braided sutures are used.