Repair in traumatic ascending aortic rupture and valve insufficiency.

An 18-year-old patient who had chronic traumatic ascending aortic lesion and valve insufficiency, with severe LV dysfunction, was treated by repair of the aortic wall without prosthesis and of the aortic valve by a gluteraldehyde-treated autologous pericardial patch. The patient had an uneventful recovery and minimal residual aortic regurgitation at one-month echocardiographic follow-up. Conservative surgery of these lesions is feasible, with good results, in some cases.