| Popis: |
The role of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for aortic stenosis (AS) is well established as a lifesaving therapy, conferring improved survival, improved symptomatic status, decreases in left ventricular hypertrophy, and improvement in left ventricular systolic function. However, there remain a group of patients with clinical risk factors in whom the risk of SAVR is felt to be prohibitive due to comorbidities. Such risk factors include advanced age, advanced renal and pulmonary disease, and severe left ventricular dysfunction. Of particular concern were patients with “low gradient” AS in the presence of severe LV dysfunction and low cardiac output. The natural history of this group, treated medically, is dismal, with a 3 year survival of 25 %. |
