Valve-sparing aortic root replacement: experience at MUSC.

Approximately 30 to 40 percent of patients requiring aortic root replacement have a normal or repairable aortic valve. At the Medical University of South Carolina Medical Center, 12 patients have recently undergone aortic root replacement using a valve sparing technique to preserve the native valve and avoid the potential complications of mechanical or bioprosthetic tissue valves. The early results are excellent and support the use of this procedure for aortic root replacement in the presence of an anatomically normal aortic valve.