Redo Aortic Valve Surgery: Early and Late Outcomes

Background. Repeat aortic valve surgery (rAVS) is usually associated with an increased risk profile due to advanced patient age and comorbidities. We analyzed the current early and late results for isolated rAVS. Methods. One hundred fifty-five patients underwent isolated rAVS from November 1994 to April 2008, of which, 86 received isolated redo aortic valve surgery (rAVS without root) and 69 received aortic root replacement (rAVS with root) as the second operation. Results. Patient age was 58 +/- 16 years; 23% were female. The indications for redo surgery were infective endocarditis (27.1%, n = 42), bioprosthetic structural valve dysfunction and degeneration (23.8%, n = 37), mechanical valve nonstructural dysfunction (7.2%, n = 11), paravalvular leak (18.1%, n = 28), aortic dissection (2.6%, n = 4), and aortic aneurysm (7.1%, n = 11). Early mortality was 4.5% (n = 7) for all patients (3.5% for rAVS without root and 5.8% for rAVS with root, p = 0.5). Left ventricular ejection fraction less than 0.30 (odds ratio 9.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1 to 80.3) and preoperative neurologic dysfunction (odds ratio 22.1, 95% CI 2.3 to 197.4) were found to be the independent predictors for in-hospital mortality according to multivariate analysis. Follow-up was 100% complete with a mean duration of 2.7 +/- 2.8 years for all patients. Five-year and eight-year survival was 66% +/- 5% and 61% +/- 6% for all patients and did not significantly differ between surgical groups. Cox regression analysis revealed the following independent predictors of long-term survival: preoperative New York Heart Association functional class IV (hazard ratio 2.2, 95% CI 1.5 to 3.2, p < 0.01) and infective endocarditis (hazard ratio 2.2, 95% CI 1.4 to 3.1, p < 0.01). Conclusions. Repeat isolated aortic valve surgery is associated with respectable outcomes. Follow-up results reveal good long-term survival for this group.