Early outcomes of aortic valve repair versus replacement for aortic regurgitation: a single-center experience

Background Aortic valve repair in rheumatic patients is not well-studied. We aimed to present our initial Egyptian experience in the aortic valve repair and compare it with the aortic valve replacement. The study included 85 patients who had an aortic valve surgery for aortic regurgitation (AR) in a single center from 2018 to 2020. We assigned the patients to either aortic valve repair ( n = 39) or aortic valve replacement ( n = 46). Fifty-nine patients (69.4%) had rheumatic heart disease. Study outcomes were hospital complications and the degree of aortic regurgitation after 6 months in patients who had aortic valve repair. Results Patients who had replacement were significantly older (49.6± 7.2 vs. 43.8± 8.6 years: P = 0.002) and had more advanced New York Heart Association ( P