Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Background: Current evidence supports the use of the Ross procedure (pulmonary autograft) in adults with aortic valve disease.
Aims: To examine the ten-year clinical and echocardiographic outcomes following the Ross procedure using a tailored approach.
Methods: This prospective cohort included 455 consecutive adults (333 male [73.1%]) with a median age of 50.0 years (IQR, 40.0-57.0) undergoing a Ross procedure at a single center. Patients with aortic aneurysms (37.4%), previous cardiac surgery (15.2%) and active endocarditis (5.7%) were included. The predominant lesion was aortic stenosis (AS) in 379 patients (83.3%) and aortic insufficiency (AI) in 76 patients (16.7%). The study period ranged from February 1, 2011, to December 31, 2019. Primary endpoints were cumulative incidence of any, autograft, or homograft reintervention, and time-related valve function (AI grades 0-4). The secondary endpoint was ten-year survival among Ross patients compared with that in the age- and sex-matched Canadian population. Median clinical follow-up was 6.0 years (maximum 13 years). Follow-up was 90% complete for clinical and 87% complete for echo follow-up.
Results: Operative mortality was 0.4% (n=2). Both patients were operated among the first 100 cases. At 10 years, cumulative incidence of any aortic and/or pulmonary reintervention was 5.0% (95% CI, 2.3-9.4%); autograft reintervention 1.5% (0.5-3.4%); and homograft reintervention 3.4% (1.9-5.7%). In patients with preoperative AS, cumulative incidence of autograft reintervention was 1.8% at 10 years (0.6-4.1%), versus 0% in patients with preoperative AI (p=0.6) (Figure 1). At 10 years, cumulative incidence of AI grade >2 was 2.0% (0.9-4.2%), and did not differ between patients with preoperative AS or AI (p=0.9) (Figure 1). Ten-year survival was 96.5% (95% CI, 94.7-98.7%), translating to a relative survival of 100% (99.4-100%) compared to the matched general population.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates that using a tailored surgical approach and contemporary perioperative management strategies, the Ross procedure is associated with excellent long-term valve function and freedom from reintervention in an all-comer adult patient population. Moreover, it translates into restored late survival, mimicking the general population. These results further support the notion that, in reference centers, the Ross procedure should be considered in adults needing valve replacement.