Long Term Results of Reduction Ascending Aortoplasty

The aim of this retrospective study is to show medium-long-term results in terms of cardiac death and aortic events in patients undergoing reduction ascending aortoplasty between 1997 and 2009 in our hospital. The Fine and Grey model for competing risk analysis was performed for time to cardiac death, with non-cardiac death as the competing risk, and time to recurrence of both re-dilation (aortic diameter > 45 mm) and re-operation with overall death as the competing risk. Paired t-test was used to evaluate the change in aortic diameter from the post-operative values to follow-up. The population included 142 patients. The mean pre-operative aortic diameter and the diameter at follow-up were respectively 46.5 +/- 5.11 mm vs. 41.4 +/- 5.55 mm (p-value < 0.001). At a mean follow-up of 11.6 +/- 4.15 years, 11 patients (7.7%) required re-operation on the ascending aorta. At 16 years, the CIF of aortic-related events was 29.4 +/- 7.2%; the freedom from cardiac death was 89.2 +/- 3.7%. Ten patients (7%) died from cardiac causes but no one was aortic-related. The Fine and Grey analysis did not identify any significant predictors. This procedure is safe but might be justified only in high-risk patients or in those with advanced age/short life expectancy.