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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2006;132:436-438
© 2006 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Brief Communication

A new approach to the assessment of aortic cusp geometry

Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospitals of Saarland, Homburg/Saar, Germany

Received for publication March 29, 2006; accepted for publication April 5, 2006.

^_* Address for reprints: Hans-Joachim Schäfers, MD, PhD, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospitals of Saarland, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany (Email: h-j.schaefers@uniklinikum-saarland.de).

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Repair of the aortic valve is a new surgical approach to the treatment of aortic regurgitation. Regurgitation of the aortic valve can be caused by cusp distortion, root dilatation, or a combination of both. For good functional reconstruction, all pathologic components present have to be addressed. Good results have been achieved with valve-preserving aortic replacement, ¹ but isolated aortic valve reconstruction (ie, cusp repair for prolapse) still remains a challenge to surgical judgment.

The main problem in repair of aortic cusps is assessment of pathology and the repair result. Root dilatation can easily be quantified preoperatively by means of echocardiography or intraoperative measurements. Cusp geometry, however, is difficult to quantify by means of echocardiography. Measurements of cusp dimensions are difficult to standardize intraoperatively, and these dimensions determine cusp configuration only in conjunction with sinus dimensions. ²

The typical configuration of a normal aortic valve is not only characterized by root dimensions but also the configuration of the cusps. This includes a typical height difference between the central free margins and the aortic insertion lines (Figure 1, A). ³ We have designed a . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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