Post-Operative Outcomes
Postoperative outcomes are summarized in Table 3 . There were no in-hospital deaths and 3 strokes (5.6%). Of the 10 patients (18.5%) who experienced respiratory failure, 5 had prolonged intubation (>48 hours) and 5 had tracheostomy. Six patients (11.1%) required renal replacement therapy and 1 patient underwent re-exploration for bleeding. The median hospital length of stay was 10 days.
Overall actuarial survival at 1 year and 6 years was 81.7% (95% CI, 63.7 – 91.4%) and 70.4% (95% CI, 50.1 – 83.6%), respectively. Mid-term survival was similar between the groups at 67.3% (95% CI 38.0 – 85.0%) in resident/junior attending cases and 75.6% (95% CI 47.1 – 90.1%) in senior attending cases (adjusted hazard ratio 1.48, 95% CI 0.33 - 6.73, P=0.61) (Figure 1 ). Reinfection occurred in 1 patient within 1 year of surgery and was associated with recurrent intravenous drug use. There were 2 reoperations for homograft structural valve deterioration: 1 in year 3 and 1 in year 7. One hundred percent of patients alive were in NYHA I or II at the last follow-up.