Objective: Atrioventricular (AV) conduction impairment represents an infrequent complication following aortic valve replacement (AVR). Although several conditions have been considered as potential risk factors for such a postoperative event, the role of the surgical technique has not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate if the suture technique for implantation of the prosthetic valve is a potential risk factor need of pacemaker (PM) implantation after AVR. Methods: One hundred twenty‐four patients undergoing AVR were enrolled in this study. A “continuous” suture technique was performed in 72 patients (58%; Group A), whereas an “interrupted” suture technique was used in 52 patients (42%; Group B). The incidence of “major,” requiring PM implantation, as well as “minor,” without PM implantation, impairment of the AV conduction was evaluated and compared in the two groups by means of univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: The patients of the two groups were homogenous for all preoperative parameters except patient age. A longer clamp time was present in the patients of group B than those of group A (73 ± 24 minutes and 60 ± 24 minutes, respectively; p < 0.01). Postoperatively, hospital mortality consisted of four patients (3.2%) with no statistical importance between the two groups. Eleven patients of group A (17.5%) and one patient of group B (2.2%) required PM implantation (p < 0.05). Prolonged P‐R interval was recorded in 15 patients of group A and in 5 patients of group B (p < 0.05). Conclusions: We showed that the continuous suture technique increases the need for postoperative PM implantation after AVR. No major differences have been observed, however, regarding in‐hospital mortality and length of hospital stay, regardless of the type of prosthetic suture technique.

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A 79-year-old man with severe aortic stenosis, history of coronary artery disease and a recent hospitalization for sepsis presented at our institution following a syncope and angina at rest. Coronary angiography and aortography showed an aortic root abscess, causing left main coronary artery compression. This life-threatening complication of aortic valve endocarditis is rare and requires immediate surgical correction.

Paradoxical embolism through a patent foramen ovale is a very unusual event considering that this cardiac anomaly may be present in as much as 26% of the general population. We describe the case of a 68-year-old man with a pulmonary and paradoxical coronary embolism in the presence of a patent foramen ovale. The finding of a worm-shaped thrombus though the atrial septum together with the risk of further embolization through the atrial septum prompted surgical treatment.

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