Reoperation for early failure of a freestyle bioprosthesis using a full root technique.

The Freestyle aortic bioprosthesis (Medtronic Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA) has been shown to possess potential advantages over conventional stented bioprosthetic valves in terms of a lower transvalvular pressure gradient and a wide choice of implantation techniques. Consequently, this valve has been more frequently applied for elderly patients with aortic valve and aortic root disease. Most often, one of four techniques is used to implant the Freestyle bioprosthesis, on the basis of the anatomic features. Herein is reported a surgical case which required reoperation 18 months after a full root replacement using the Freestyle bioprosthesis for annuloaortic ectasia.