Aortic valve replacement in adult patients with small aortic annuli.

Fifty-five patients with small aortic annuli underwent valve replacement either isolated or combined with other procedures. Patch enlargement of the aortic annulus in the area of the noncoronary sinus was used in 32 patients. The width of the patch was calculated by multiplying the desired increase in diameter by pi and adding 8 mm for suturing. The remaining 23 patients had aortic valve replacement with a prosthesis larger than the aortic annulus. The prosthesis was sutured in a supraannular position in the area corresponding to the noncoronary sinus. This slightly tilted position does not compromise function of Carpentier-Edwards or Björk-Shiley prostheses. Prosthetic gradients ranged from 0 to 18 mm Hg (9.2 +/- 3.9 mm Hg) in patients with patch enlargement of the aortic annulus and from 0 to 22 mm Hg (7.2 +/- 5.8 mm Hg) in patients with supraannular aortic prostheses. Although these techniques allow for insertion of prosthetic valves only one and two sizes larger than the aortic annulus, they appear to be satisfactory in most adult patients with a small aortic annulus.