Background: Long-standing aortic stenosis causes significant left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, which may progress irreversibly. In many cases, LV function can be salvaged by aortic valve surgery, although debate exists regarding the best valve prosthesis to use.
Methods and results: We studied 33 patients retrospectively who had significant aortic stenosis and impaired LV systolic function, as assessed by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography. Patients were assessed preoperatively and before discharge from the hospital. A total of 20 patients received a stentless (homograft or Toronto) valve, and 13, a stented valve. No patient had significant aortic regurgitation or other valvular disease. Preoperatively, fractional shortening was 18.8+/-5.5% in the stentless group and 18.6+/-3.8% in the stented group. Postoperatively, it was 25.6+/-6.9% (P<0.001 compared with baseline) and 17.0+/-2.8%, respectively (P<0.001 compared with stentless group). Fractional shortening improved because of a reduction in LV end-systolic and end-diastolic dimensions in the stentless group. Systolic long axis function at the LV free wall also recovered, with an increase in systolic excursion and both peak shortening and lengthening rates. No change was noted in mitral valve Doppler patterns.
Conclusions: Patients who received a stentless valve demonstrated a significantly greater early improvement in LV systolic function compared with those who received a stented valve.