Melody valve implantation within freestyle stentless porcine aortic heterograft

Background The Melody transcatheter pulmonary valve has been implanted successfully worldwide since its first implant in 2000. The vast majority of these valves have been implanted in pulmonary homografts. In our institution, the most common valve used for pulmonary valve replacement is the Medtronic Freestyle stentless porcine aortic heterograft. Objective We describe our experience implanting the Melody valve within the Freestyle heterograft. Methods Retrospective chart review was performed. Results Between June 2012 and June 2015, 19 Melody valves were placed within Freestyle heterografts. The most common indication for intervention was pulmonary stenosis. Following pre‐stent and Melody valve implantation, right ventricle‐to‐pulmonary artery gradient decreased from 38.1 ± 12.1 to 10 ± 4.7 mm Hg (P