Left ventricular mass regression in patients without patient-prosthesis mismatch after aortic valve replacement for...

The relationship between the degree of a postoperative effective orifice area and temporal regression of a left ventricular mass after aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis is unclear in patients without patient-prosthesis mismatch. We therefore investigated the relationship and independent predictors of left ventricular mass regression.

Among 307 consecutive patients who underwent aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis between 2008 and 2013, 223 patients receiving a periodic inspection by echocardiography for at least 3 consecutive years after surgery without patient-prosthesis mismatch were enrolled in the present study. Temporal regression of left ventricular mass index was compared between two groups that were classified equally according to effective orifice area index obtained at a 1-week postoperative echocardiographic examination: < 1.20 cm²/m² (n = 112) and > 1.20 cm²/m² (n = 111). We also determined the predictors affecting left ventricular mass regression.

No difference existed in the preoperative left ventricular mass index between the two groups (p = 0.431). Temporal regression of the left ventricular mass index was similar in the two groups. The independent predictors of left ventricular mass regression were male gender (p = 0.007) and preoperative left ventricular mass index (p = 0.003), but valve size was not (p = 0.641).

There was no relationship between the degree of postoperative effective orifice area and temporal regression of the left ventricular mass in patients without patient-prosthesis mismatch. The independent predictors of left ventricular mass regression were male gender and preoperative left ventricular mass index.