Clinical and hemodynamic performance of the Ionescu-Shiley valve in the small aortic root. Results in 117 patients with 17 and 19 mm valves

The Ionescu-Shiley pericardial valve was our bioprosthetic valve of choice between 1981 and 1985 for patients in whom the aortic anulus could not accept a valve larger than 19 mm in outer diameter or in whom the avoidance of warfarin sodium (Coumadin) was important. A series of 117 consecutive patients who received 17 or 19 mm valves for isolated aortic valve replacement or aortic valve replacement combined with coronary artery bypass grafting or other valvular procedures was analyzed. Overall, 74% of the patients were female, with a mean age of 70.9 years and a body surface area of 1.67 +/- 0.19 m2; 92.3% were in New York Heart Association class III-IV, and the operation was urgent or emergent in 46%. The operative mortality rate was 7.7%, with no deaths in patients undergoing isolated elective first-time aortic valve replacement. Mean follow-up for survivors was 2.5 years (10 to 62 months). There were 20 late deaths, of which three were valve related, three were due to sudden death or arrhythmias, and two were due to persistent heart failure. The actuarial survival rate at 5 years was 68%. Clinical follow-up revealed a low incidence of valve-related complications, and 96.4% of survivors were in class I-II. Postoperative echocardiography before hospital discharge revealed a maximum instantaneous gradient of 18.4 +/- 3.0 mm Hg in five patients having a 17 mm valve and 31.3 +/- 12.7 mm Hg in 20 patients having a 19 mm valve. Doppler echocardiography was performed in 22 patients at a mean follow-up of 39.3 +/- 11.7 months. The maximum instantaneous gradient was 25 +/- 17.2 mm Hg for 17 mm and 17.41 +/- 5.4 mm Hg for 19 mm valves at late follow-up. The effective orifice area was 0.85 +/- 0.1 cm2 for 17 mm and 1.21 +/- 0.21 cm2 for 19 mm valves. This study defines the normal range of Doppler echocardiographic transprosthetic gradients for the Ionescu-Shiley valve and confirms that low operative mortality and excellent clinical improvement can result from the use of small Ionescu-Shiley valves in elderly patients despite moderate postoperative transvalvular gradients.