Conventional surgery continues to be the best option for surgical treatment of aortic valve disease. Arguments in favor

It is premature to try to compare the results of aortic valve surgery obtained by the so-called minimally-invasive techniques, with those obtained with the use of the conventional median sternotomy approach. The experience accumulated with this type of limited access surgery is small and remains anecdotal. We reviewed one hundred consecutive aortic valve patients operated at the Mayo Clinic. There was one hospital death. There were no instances of post-operative bleeding or mediastinitis. Average duration of extracorporeal circulation was 72 minutes; average duration of aortic cross-clamp was 50 minutes. Duration of hospitalization in these patients averaged 6.4 days. These results compare favorably with those reported with the minimally invasive procedures.