Preventive aortic root replacement in Marfan syndrome

b , supervisor Denise van der Linde c a Summary Objective: To determine whether preventive aortic root replacement in patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS) improves post- operative mortality and long-term life expectancy, and whether it reduces the risk of endocarditis. Methods: PubMed was searched on January 18th 2010 for papers on preventive aortic root replacement in MFS patients. Two authors screened the studies separately, using the same inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Seven studies were included in this review. Overall 1645 patients were analyzed, with a mean follow-up duration of 10.8 years. Average 30-day mortality was 1.9 % in preventive aortic root replacement surgery, and 8.4% in urgent surgery. Late mortality occurred in 16.8% of the patients. Endocarditis developed in 4.5% of the patients. Conclusion: Preventive aortic root replacement significantly improves life expectancy in Marfan patients. Endocarditis occurs relatively infrequently, so this is not a limitation for preventive aortic root surgery.