Single-Center, Multisurgeon Experience with a Sutureless Rapid Deployment Aortic Valve Prosthesis: A Clinical Analysis in the United States

Background. The Perceval S is a sutureless, bovine pericardial aortic prosthesis on a nitinol stent, which has limited data on outcomes, as well as cost, from the United States. Methods. We performed a retrospective review of Perceval S implantation at a single center between 2015 and 2018. After exclusion criteria, we compared 234 patients who underwent sutureless aortic valve (SLV) implantation with 370 patients who underwent standard sutured aortic valves (SAVR). Hospital cost data were reviewed, and risk adjustment, done by propensity score and inverse probability weighting, was used to compare outcomes. Results. Compared to those undergoing SAVR, the SLV group was older and had a higher proportion of multicomponent operations, higher preoperative white blood cell count, higher rate of previous percutaneous coronary interventions, more comorbid conditions (diabetes, renal insufficiency, and dialysis), and more three-vessel coronary disease. For isolated AVR, partial upper hemisternotomy was more frequent in SLV. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass and cross-clamp times for isolated SLV were significantly lower than SAVR. After adjustment, the cohort was balanced. Operative differences for SLV were lower cross-clamp and pump time, larger valve size, more minimally invasive approaches, and shorter operating room times. There were no differences in other postoperative complications (postoperative atrial fibrillation, stroke, renal failure, prolonged ventilation, and in-hospital mortality; p>0.05 for all). Mean and median hospital costs were higher in the SLV group, largely due to the cost of the implant. Conclusion. Sutureless tissue aortic valves can be used safely with lower cardiopulmonary bypass and clamp times than sutured prostheses and facilitate use of minimally invasive approaches. This valve may be advantageous in older, higher risk patients requiring more complex operations.