ValveTech

www.valvetech.it (in Italian)

Minimally invasive aortic valve replacement (MIAVR) is defined as an aortic valve replacement (AVR) procedure that involves a small chest wall incision as opposed to conventional full sternotomy (FS). Compared with conventional surgery, MIAVR has been shown to reduce postoperative mortality and morbidity, providing faster recovery, shorter hospital stay and better cosmetics results, requires less rehabilitations resources and consequently cost reduction. Despite these advantages, MIAVR is limited by the longer cross-clamp and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) times, which have raised some concerns in fragile and high risk patients. However, with the introduction of sutureless and fast deployment valves, operative times have dramatically reduced by 35-40%, standardizing this procedure (Glauber M et al, Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2015). However, current prosthetic heart valves necessitate permanent anticoagulation or have limited durability and impaired hemodynamic performance compared to natural valves.