Minimally Invasive and Conventional Aortic Valve Replacement: A Propensity Score Analysis Daniyar Gilmanov, MD, Stefano Bevilacqua, MD, Michele Murzi, MD, Alfredo G. Cerillo, MD, Tommaso Gasbarri, MD, Enkel Kallushi, MD, Antonio Miceli, MD, Mattia Glauber, MD The Annals of Thoracic Surgery Volume 96, Issue 3, Pages 837-843 (September 2013) DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2013.04.102 Copyright © 2013 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions
Fig 1 By computed tomographic scan imaging, patients are suitable for right anterior minithoracotomy if at the level of the main pulmonary artery (A) the aorta is rightward (>50% of ascending aorta lies out of the right sternal border) and (B) the distance between ascending aorta and thoracic wall is less than 10 cm. Vertical line on (A) corresponds to right paramedian (parasternal) sagittal plane. Dashed line shows ascending aorta anatomy unfavorable for minithoracotomy. Arrow on (B) shows thorax depth – i.e., distance between ascending aorta and thoracic wall. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 2013 96, 837-843DOI: (10.1016/j.athoracsur.2013.04.102) Copyright © 2013 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions