Ten-year experience with sutureless Perceval bioprosthesis: single-centre analysis in 1157 implants

Aims: We describe long-term clinical and echocardiographic outcomes in the largest single-centre cohort of patients who underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) with sutureless Perceval (CorCym, Italy) bioprosthesis. Methods: Between March 2011 and March 2021, 1157 patients underwent AVR with Perceval bioprosthesis implantation. Mean age was 77 ± 6 years (range: 46-89 years) and mean EuroSCORE II was 6.7 ± 3.2% (range: 1.7-14.2%). Concomitant procedures were performed in 266 patients (23%). Results: Thirty-day mortality was 1.38% (16/1157). Eight hundred and twenty of 891 (92%) isolated AVRs underwent minimally invasive surgery with a ministernotomy (n = 196) or right minithoracotomy (n = 624) approach. Cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp times were 81.1 ± 24.3 and 50.6 ± 11.7 min for isolated AVR and 144.5 ± 34.7 and 96.4 ± 21.6 min for combined procedures. At mean follow-up of 53.08 ± 6.7 months (range: 1-120.5 months), survival was 96.5% and mean transvalvular pressure gradient was 13.7 ± 5.8 mmHg. Left ventricular mass decreased from 152.8 to 116.1 g/m2 (P < 0.001) and moderate paravalvular leakage occurred in three patients without haemolysis not requiring any treatment. Freedom from reoperation was 97.6%. Eight patients required surgical reintervention and 19 patients transcatheter valve-in-valve procedure for structural prosthesis degeneration at a mean of 5.6 years after first operation (range: 2-9 years). Conclusion: AVR with a Perceval bioprosthesis is associated with good clinical results and excellent haemodynamic performance in our 10-year experience. Structural degeneration rate of Perceval is comparable with other bioprosthetic aortic valves. Sutureless technology may reduce operative time especially in combined procedures and enable minimally invasive AVR.