Outcomes of reoperative aortic valve replacement after previous sternotomy

Increasingly, patients with previous sternotomy require aortic valve replacement. We compared outcomes of reoperative aortic valve replacement after previous sternotomy and primary aortic valve replacement by surgical era. Effect of initial cardiac operation on reoperative aortic valve replacement was also investigated.

Between January 1996 and December 2007, a total of 1603 patients undergoing elective aortic valve replacement were entered prospectively into our clinical database. Patients were divided into eras A (1996-1999), B (2000-2003), and C (2004-2007). A total of 191 patients (12%) had previous sternotomy for coronary artery bypass grafting (n = 88), coronary artery bypass grafting with aortic valve replacement (n = 16), aortic valve replacement with or without other aortic procedure (n = 70), and other cardiac procedures (n = 17). Mean ages were 66.5 +/- 13.1 years in reoperative group and 65.5 +/- 14.9 years in primary group.

Mortality in reoperative group decreased significantly with time (A 15.4% vs B 15.1% vs C 2.0%, P = .004) and was equivalent to primary group in era C (3.5% vs 2.0%, P = .65). Major complications also significantly decreased with time in reoperative group (A 25.6% vs B 17.0% vs C 6.1%, P = .006). Importantly, patients had more comorbidities with time and increased preoperative risk in era C. There were no differences in outcome by initial cardiac operation in reoperative group.

Reoperative aortic valve replacement now carries similar morbidity and mortality to primary replacement. Risk of reoperation is not affected by primary operation.