Transvalvular Velocities after Full Aortic Root Replacement: Results from a Prospective Randomized Trial between the Homograft and the Medtronic Freestyle Bioprosthesis
Giovanni Melina MD, Andrew Mitchell FRCP, Mohamed Amrani FRCS, Asghar Khaghani FRCS, Magdi H. Yacoub FRS

Transvalvular flow velocities were investigated, and results compared, from a prospective randomized trial of homograft or Medtronic Freestyle full aortic root replacement. No patient showed transvalvular velocities ›2 m/s. The mean transvalvular velocities for homograft and Freestyle groups were 1.5 ± 0.3 and 1.7 ± 0.3 m/s at six weeks and 1.6 ± 0.4 and 1.6 ± 0.2 m/s at three years after the operation, respectively. These findings show that the full aortic root technique for aortic valve replacement provides excellent hemodynamic outcome both early and at mid-term after surgery, and no difference was seen between homograft and Freestyle stentless valves.