The pericardium reinforced suture annuloplasty: another tool available for mitral annulus repair?

From May 1985 to May 1992, 169 patients underwent surgery for mitral valve repair. In 87% of these patients, the valve reconstruction involved the mitral annulus. At the beginning, in an effort to preserve systolic movement of the annulus and avoid the implant of prosthetic materials inside the heart, we mainly used simple suture annuloplasty in 66 patients. When we reoperated upon three patients only a few months after reconstruction of the mitral valve for a dehiscence of the suture annuloplasty, we decided to perform ring annuloplasty with the Carpentier ring in 23 patients. Though we have not seen any problems with the Carpentier ring in our series, we performed a suture annuloplasty reinforced with a strip of autologous pericardium to eliminate all prosthetic material. Since introducing this technique in 1989, we have used this annuloplasty in 58 patients. We have not observed any dehiscence of the suture or other complications related to this procedure. Three patients with a pericardial annuloplasty underwent reoperation for other reasons; the autologous pericardium was perfectly attached to the annulus, covered by a smooth layer of fibrous tissue without calcification. After this encouraging initial experience, we believe that long-term follow-up is necessary to confirm that autologous pericardium is an effective method of mitral annulus repair.

[Course of the first one hundred bioprostheses implanted between 1975 and 1977. A 10-year follow-up study]. / Que sont devenues les cent premières bioprothèses implantées entre 1975 et 1977. Recul dix ans.

Long-term performance of the first one hundred bioprostheses (BP) implanted was evaluated in 100 patients (pts) surviving isolated aortic valve replacement, mitral valve replacement and tricuspid replacement from October 1975 to March 1978. Follow-up was always more than 10 years. Cumulative duration of follow-up was 7,048 months. Follow-up ranged from 112 to 139 months. Overall late mortality was 16.13 thromboembolic episodes occurred in 11 pts. Reoperation was performed in 14 pts due to primary tissue failure in 11 pts. 64 patients were free from mortality and valve-related reoperation.

[Cor triatriatum. Anatomical forms and surgical treatment of 6 consecutive cases]. / Coeur triatial. Formes anatomiques et traitement chirurgical de 6 cas consécutifs.

Six cases of cor triatriatum documented and operated on at Henri-Mondor hospital between 1980 and 1984 are reported. Ages at the time of surgery ranged from 8 months to 57 years. Four of the 6 patients presented with pulmonary hypertension. Anatomic types consisted of 4 diaphragmatic types and 2 more complex malformations. Associated lesions were present in all but one patients. They consisted mostly of interatrial defects (depending on their position with regard to the intra-atrial membrane, they play a determinant role in the symptomatology) and of a left superior vena cava (which might play a role in the embryogenesis of the malformation). Except for one early postoperative death, results of surgery were excellent for all patients, with a mean follow-up of 5 years. This series, compared with the literature, allows precising the embryologic and anatomic aspects of the malformation and the surgical techniques in complex types.

[Aortic subvalvular obstructions. Anatomical forms and surgical treatment of 82 consecutive cases]. / Les obstacles sous-valvulaires aortiques. Formes anatomiques et traitement chirurgical de 82 cas consécutifs.

The authors report their experience of surgery for subvalvular aortic obstruction in 82 patients aged from 4 to 44 years (mean 15 years). Nearly one-half of the patients presented with symptoms; the others were operated upon for various reasons: gradient exceeding 60 mmHg, development or aggravation of aortic regurgitation, positive exercise test, electrocardiographic or echocardiographic signs of left ventricular repercussions. Nineteen children had previously undergone surgery for another malformation, but the subvalvular aortic obstruction had either been missed during this first operation or had developed subsequently. The diaphragmatic pattern was the most frequent (62 cases); the fibromuscular pattern was less common (9 cases) and the tunnel pattern (6 cases) was regularly associated in this series with hypoplasia of the aortic ring. Obstruction due to faulty insertion of the mitral valve was encountered on 3 occasions. The operative technique for each anatomical pattern is described. Tunnel obstructions did not require primary aortoventriculoplasty without prosthetic valve replacement of apicoaortic conduits. In addition to treatment of associated lesions (including 4 cases of ventricular septal defect), 9 aortic commissurotomies, 6 aortic valvuloplasties and 4 aortic valve replacements were performed. The transaortic gradient was dramatically improved. The aortic regurgitation murmur subsided with or, usually, without valvuloplasty.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)