Surgical strategy and clinical outcome in patients with aortic root disease

The aim of this thesis was to provide an overview of clinical outcome after surgical treatment of aortic valve and/or root disease, and to put this into a broader perspective taking into account patient characteristics, quality of life and patient preference. This chapter attempts to put the research questions posed in the introduction section and the findings of the presented studies in this thesis into the perspective of treatment of patients with aortic valve and/or root disease and in particular optimal selection of surgical treatment for the individual patient. Additionally, it provides recommendations with regard to optimization of treatment selection and future research.