REPLACEMENT OF A PROSTHETIC VALVE AFTER THE BENTALL PROCEDURE

Patients undergoing a composite graft replacement of the aortic root w ith reimplantation of the coronary ostia (Bentall procedure) are at ri sk for late prosthetic heart valve dysfunction: approximately 10% of t he patients are expected to experience this complication at 10 years. Therefore, replacement of the prosthetic valve is indicated. This proc edure involves technical problems related to the manipulation and the reconstruction of the composite graft without distortion of the corona ry arteries. We describe a simple surgical approach to treat these par ticular patients.