Sorin stentless pericardial valve versus Carpentier–Edwards Perimount pericardial bioprosthesis: Is it worthwhile to struggle?

We compared two bovine pericardium prostheses (Sorin Freedom versus Carpentier–Edwards Perimount) in patients with small aortic annulus, randomizing 80 patients affected by prevalent aortic stenosis and studying the residual gradient, the effective orifice area, the left ventricular mass regression and the ventricular function to evaluate the cost-benefit in terms of risk-advantages for the patient.