Intramural Hematoma of a Cryopreserved Aortic Homograft

Introduction

Infective endocarditis involving native valves (NVE) is associated with a lower in-hospital mortality and better prognosis than prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) [1]. PVE is a life-threatening surgical complication which can be treated with cryopreserved homografts (CH) since they have shown a good resistance to early re-infection combined with an acceptable long-term durability. Nevertheless the homograft itself can be susceptible to various diseases [2], [3]. In this paper we describe the incidental, intraoperative finding and subsequent treatment of an extensive intramural hematoma (IH) of a cryopreserved homograft already affected by severe post-infective aortic regurgitation. Due to its rarity, there is no general consensus on how best to handle this complex and quite exceptional allograft disease.

References

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