Introduction: Glutaraldehyde-treated crimped bovine pericardial grafts are currently used in aortic graft surgery. These conduits have become good options for these operations, available in different sizes and shapes and at a low cost.Objective: To evaluate the results obtained with bovine pericardial grafts for aortic reconstruction, specially concerning late complications.Method: Between January 1995 and January 2002, 57 patients underwent different types of aortic reconstruction operations using bovine pericardial grafts. A total of 29 (50.8%) were operated on an urgent basis (mostly acute Stanford A dissection) and 28 electively. Thoracotomy was performed in three patients for descending aortic replacement (two patients) and aortoplasty with a patch in one. All remaining 54 underwent sternotomy, cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic resection. Deep hypothermia and total circulatory arrest was used in acute dissections and arch operations.Results: Hospital mortality was 17.5%. Follow-up was 24.09 months (18.5 to 29.8 months confidence interval) and complication-free actuarial survival curve was 92.3%(standard deviation ± ± ± ± ± 10.6).
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