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Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England logoLink to Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England
. 2015 Apr;97(3):244. doi: 10.1308/rcsann.2015.97.3.244

Soft plastic snugger to assist seating of prosthetic aortic valve

DJF Smith 1, GKR Soppa 2, MT Yates 2,
PMCID: PMC4474027  PMID: 26263819

Accurate positioning of a prosthetic aortic valve, in the native aortic annulus, is essential to prevent paravalvular leak. However, it may be difficult to achieve good apposition between a rigid prosthetic valve and deeply scalloped annulus. Ubiquitous to cardiac operating sets, a soft plastic snugger can be used to secure the middle suture in each sinus. This flattens and approximates the annulus while sutures are tied from each commissure towards the snugger, ensuring a good seal (Fig 1). Finally, the snugger is removed and the last suture tied. This is a safe, affordable and reproducible method of accurately seating a prosthetic valve.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Soft plastic snugger to secure sutures in non-coronary cusp while tying valve into place


Articles from Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England are provided here courtesy of The Royal College of Surgeons of England

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