Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 19, 2026
Full-root Aortic Valve Replacement by Stentless Aortic Xenografts in Patients with Small Aortic Roots
Published on: May 21, 2017
Aortic valve replacement: is the stentless xenograft an alternative to the homograft? Midterm results
C Gross1, W Harringer, H Beran
1Department of Surgery I and Cardiology, General Hospital Linz, Austria.
Background:
This study was performed to assess the midterm clinical results after aortic valve replacement (AVR) with stentless xenograft (SX) compared with cryopreserved aortic or pulmonary homografts (HX).
Methods:
In 139 patients (<60 years) undergoing elective AVR, 59 HX and 80 SX were inserted. All patients were followed clinically and by color flow Doppler echocardiography for 45+/-12 months (range 31-58 months).
Results:
There were 5 in-hospital deaths (3.5%): 4 HX and 1 SX (p = NS). The mean gradient was 6+/-2 mm Hg in HX versus 13+/-6 mm Hg in SX (p<0.001) and remained unchanged during follow-up. Actuarial survival (HX 77%, SX 80%), freedom from endocarditis (HX 91%, SX 99%), freedom from thromboembolic events (HX 98%, SX 90%), and freedom from reoperation (HX 98%, SX 100%) were comparable between groups after 58 months.
Conclusions:
Despite slightly higher transvalvular gradients, the stentless aortic valve achieved excellent midterm results, when compared with homografts.
