Abstract
Over the last 2 decades, there has been a growing interest in aortic valve repair and aortic valve-sparing procedures. Deep understanding of the mechanisms of aortic regurgitation in different valve phenotypes has enabled to proceed from valve-sparing aortic root replacement to a modern and complex concept of aortic valve repair including bicuspid aortic valve [1, 2].
The advantage of aortic valve repair over conventional aortic valve replacement is a significant reduction of valve-related complications like thromboembolism, bleeding and a risk of infective endocarditis. Furthermore, there are some limited reports of better quality of life and superior long-term survival compared to aortic valve replacement [3, 4].
The most significant drawback of aortic valve repair is the potential risk of repair failure in the long term, thus necessitating a reintervention. The current knowledge has been based mostly on the results of monocentric publications from the centres of excellence. In other words, most relevant publications are still coming from these centres and respective leaders in the field who keep supporting their suggested techniques.