Table 4.

The relative merits of four approaches to surgical management of the aortic root in Marfan syndrome to reduce the risk of death due to dissection

Hazard	Bentall mechanical	Bentall tissue	Valve sparing	External support
Cardiopulmonary bypass	+	+	+	−
Blood products	+	+	+	−
Thrombembolic risk	+	−	−	−
Anticoagulation	+	−	−	−
Endocarditis	+	+	−	−
Reoperation for valve failure	−	+	+/−	?

The symbols + or − represent a simple dichotomy where + indicates an inherent hazard whether inevitable such as the need for cardiopulmonary bypass or a serious but uncommon risk such as endocarditis.