The first aortic valve repair was performed in 1958, but the clinical outcome was limited. Since the invention of prosthetic valves, aortic valve replacement has become and still maintained the dominated surgical treatment option. As the impact of the prosthetic valve-related event to quality of life of the patients and the studies of the mechanism of aortic regurgitation and the functional anatomy of aortic root grow, the application of aortic valve repair gets more popular, and the short- and mid-term outcomes are good.
Abstracts： Objective To summarize clinical experience and surgical outcomes of congenital coronary arterial fistula （CAF）. Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical records of 12 patients （6 males, 6 females）, aged from 4 to 77 （50.90±23.8） years, who underwent surgical repair of CAF in Nanjing First Hospital between February 2005 and June 2011. There were 3 CAF patients associated with coronary artery aneurysms, one with patent foramen ovale and 2 with coronary artery disease （CAD）. One CAD patient had concomitant severe aortic valve stenosis. One patient underwent surgical repair without cardiopulmonary bypass （CPB） and 11 patients underwent surgery under CPB, among whom 3 patients underwent surgery with beating heart. One patient underwent concomitant aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting.?Results?All the patients recovered uneventfully. Operation time was 151.25±42.65 min （ranging from 90 to 245 min）, cardiopulmonary bypass time was 65.06±29.16 min （ranging from 31 to 116 min）, mean aortic cross-clamping time was 43.00±33.41 min （ranging from 18 to 97 min） and postoperative hospital stay was 12.50±1.45 d （ranging from 10 to 15 d）. There was no early or late death. All the patients were followed up from 4 months to 6 years and no patient had symptom recurrence, myocardial ischemia or residual fistula during the follow-up. Conclusions All CAF patients should be surgically treated once diagnosis are made with satisfactory surgical outcome.