The stentless Cryolife-O'Brien aortic porcine xenograft: A 5-year follow-up

Background. The 5-year follow-up of CryoLife-O'Brien stentless porcine aort ic valve xenografts is presented. Methods. From August 1991 to August 1996, the valve was used in 366 patient s. Patients' ages ranged from 18 to 90 years (mean, 73 +/- 6 years). Surviv ors were monitored with Doppler echocardiography before discharge, at 6 mon ths, and then annually by the referring cardiologist. Operative and long-te rm mortality and morbidity were collected using the Edmunds guidelines for reporting morbidity and mortality after cardiac valvular operations. Results. The study was completed during a 6-month period with a 96.5% follo w-up, comprising 999 patient-years for a mean follow-up period of 27 months (range, 3 to 64 months). Operative mortality was 6.5%. Linearized rates pe r patient-year for complications were as follows: structural valve deterior ation (0%); thromboembolism (0.5%); prosthetic valve endocarditis (0.2%); v alve reoperation (0.8%); and valve-related mortality (0.2%). Sixteen late d eaths have occurred. The actuarial survival rate at 5 years was 83% +/- 3.5 %. Conclusions. The Cryolife-O'Brien stentless valve has given excellent early hemodynamic and 5-year results. (C) 1998 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeo ns.