Stentless porcine aortic root: valve of choice for the elderly patient with small aortic root?

The Medtronic Freestyle bioprosthesis is a stentless porcine aortic root cross-linked in dilute glutaraldehyde solution with stress-free fixation for the valve leaflets. It has been treated by a process in which amino oleic acid is used to reduce the potential for calcification. As a complete aortic root, it has the same versatility as the aortic homograft but has the advantage that it is readily available in all sizes to the implanting surgeon. Between January 1993 and May 1994, we implanted 64 Freestyle bioprostheses as aortic valve replacements using a freehand technique; 5 size 19 mm, 15 size 21 mm, 16 size 23 mm, 13 size 25 mm, and 15 size 27 mm valves were used. There were 35 men and the mean age was 75.7 years (64 to 84 years). The operative mortality was 3.1% (2/64). Echocardiograms at the time of discharge revealed mean aortic valve gradients ranging from 18.2 mm Hg for 19 mm to 10.3 mm Hg for 27 mm valves. Effective orifice areas ranged from 1.0 cm2 for 19 mm to 2.0 cm2 for 27 mm valves. No patient had more than trace aortic insufficiency. Our early experience with this new stentless bioprosthesis shows it to have excellent hemodynamics especially in the smaller valve sizes. Using this valve in patients who have a small aortic root and require a tissue valve avoids the need for aortic root enlargement procedures.