Study design
Between January 2015 and December 2020, 652 consecutive patients
underwent an isolated AVR procedure at the Clinical Centre of Serbia in
Belgrade. This observational analysis included elective, urgent, and
emergent cases performed due to any pathology. Combined surgery was the
exclusion criterion. Forty-six patients refused to participate in
research, while 11 patients were lost to follow-up (Fig. 1).
Patients were divided into two groups according to whether they had
received a biological or mechanical prosthesis. Furthermore, they were
evaluated for the presence or absence of PPM. The groups with and
without PPM present were compared with regard to baseline
characteristics, operative characteristics, survival, complications,
freedom from angina and QoL up to 6 years of follow-up. The data were
obtained from medical records and via telephone surveys during the
follow-up period.