Impact of Mild Aortic Valve Disease on Late Outcomes after Replacement of the Ascending Aorta Case-control Study

Background: The time course of mild aortic valve disease after replacement of the ascending aorta is unclear. We sought to clarify it.Methods: Between January 2011 and December 2016, 26 patients (9 bicuspid and 17 tricuspid aortic valve disease) underwent replacement of the enlarged ascending aorta alone. We compared the postoperative disease course between bicuspid and tricuspid aortic valve by transthoracic echocardiography and computed tomography performed at 73 ± 23 and 60 ± 23 months post-surgery, respectively.Results: The bicuspid group was younger than the tricuspid group (62.1 ± 4.8 vs 73.3 ± 4.8 years). Pathophysiology predominantly involved aortic valve stenosis and regurgitation in the bicuspid and tricuspid group, respectively. The peak and mean pressure gradient increased (P = .16, and P = .46) and the aortic valve area decreased significantly in the bicuspid group (P = .005). Two patients in the bicuspid group who required re-operation had an aortic valve area of 1.2 cm2 at initial operation. Seventy percent of patients in the tricuspid group had less than mild aortic valve regurgitation preoperatively, which improved up to 82% at follow-up. Freedom from re-operation was 66.7% and 100% at 8 years for the bicuspid and tricuspid group, respectively. Conclusions: Aortic valve replacement may be considered for patients with bicuspid aortic valve stenosis if the aortic valve area is less than 1.2 cm2, even if the general diagnosis is mild aortic valve stenosis at initial surgery. Even mild aortic valve regurgitation may be improved by surgical intervention in the ascending aorta.