Early postoperative outcomes
There was no operative death. In-hospital mortality was 1% (n=1) in Group 1 and 2% (n=1) in Group 2 (p=0.6). Cause of death was multiorgan failure (n=1, Group 1) and low cardiac output syndrome (n=1, Group 2). There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding intensive care unit stay (mean of 1.1±2 days in Group 1 vs mean of 1.6±1.5 days in Group 2; p=0.2). Cardio-pulmonary bypass time was significantly longer in Group 2 (mean of 132±41 minutes in Group 1 vs 191±52 minutes in Group 2; p<0.01). Similar results were observed for the cross-clamp time (Table 2). Reexploration for bleeding was necessary in 6 patients of Group 1 and in 7 patients of Group 2, respectively (p=0.1). No neurological events were observed in both groups.