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DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1354469
Comparing Bovine Jugular Veins to Homografts in Pulmonary Position: 711 Patients, 2 Centers, Various Treatment Schemes, 27 Implantation Years, 3,092 Observation Years
Background: Various diseases, ages, and diagnostic/therapeutic options hamper long-term comparisons of valved conduits. Raw data pooling of two high volume sites considering all these facts gives new insights.
Patients and Methods: From 1985 to 2012, 444 bovine jugular veins and 267 homografts were implanted. A total of 6,738 postoperative examinations took place. Evaluation included age stratified Kaplan-Meier analyses and shows the relative frequencies of intact, insufficient, stenotic, both insufficient and stenotic, and postinterventional conduits below the “free from explantation” curve.
Results: The fraction of intact bovine jugular veins in children and young adults is not inferior to homografts; averaged on the first 12 years after implantation, the advantage was at least 10%.
Conclusion: Bovine jugular veins are a valid homograft alternative.