The effect of minimally invasive surgical aortic valve replacement on postoperative pulmonary and skeletal muscle function

Suboptimal post‐operative improvements in functional capacity are often observed after minimally invasive aortic valve replacement (mini‐AVR). It remains to be studied how AVR affects the cardiopulmonary and skeletal muscle function during exercise to explain these clinical observations and to provide a basis for improved/tailored post‐operative rehabilitation. Twenty‐two patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) (aortic valve area (AVA)