Surgical procedures
Minimally invasive approach via partial upper sternotomy was performed in the majority of patients (61% in Group 1 and 67% in Group 2; p<0.01). The remaining patients were operated via complete sternotomy. The perioperative results and surgical procedures are summarised in Table 2.
Isolated ascending aorta replacement for treatment of aortic aneurysm was performed in 4 patients (4%) of Group 1 and 38 patients (79%) of Group 2 (p<0.01; Table 2). In Group 2 additional hemiarch replacement was performed in 9 patients (19%) and 1 patient received complete aortic arch replacement using elephant trunk technique due to a greater extent of aortic arch aneurysm. Reduction aortoplasty was performed in 19 patients (20%) of Group 1. Significantly more patients of Group 1 received pericardial patch augmentation (n=84) in comparison to Group 2 patients (n=34; p<0.01). The rate of leaflet plication was similar in both groups (80 patients of Group 1 and 42 patients of Group 2; p=0.8).