Right Anterior Minithoracotomy Is an Alternative, Less Invasive Approach to Median Sternotomy during Aortic Valve Replacement for Patients with Low Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction

Table 3

The levels of inflammatory factors in patients with low LVEF undergoing AVR through right anterior minithoracotomy and patients undergoing AVR through median sternotomy.

Group	Case	Time	IL-6 (pg/ml)	IL-8 (pg/ml)	TNF-α (pg/ml)
Median sternotomy	43	Before operation
		After operation
Right anterior minithoracotomy	43	Before operation
		After operation
(median sternotomy)			21.473/0.001	5.384/0.001	10.476/0.001
(right anterior minithoracotomy)			35.296/0.001	4.215/0.017	6.942/0.001
(group comparison after treatment)			14.152/0.001	3.981/0.033	5.172/0.011

IL-6: interleukin-6; IL-8: interleukin-8; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α.