Isolated cleft mitral valve: valve reconstruction techniques.

Reports concerning an isolated cleft of the anterior mitral valve are rare. This congenital anomaly of the mitral valve is usually repaired by suturing the edges of the cleft. We report 4 cases of isolated anterior mitral cleft. The patients ranged in age from 13 to 41 years. The clinical symptoms were those typical of mitral insufficiency. In all 4 patients, preoperative echocardiography was able to establish the exact anatomic diagnosis. In 1 patient, the cleft was directly sutured, whereas, in the other 3 patients, a fibrous reaction of the edges of the cleft with a subsequent lack of valvular tissue made direct suture technically impossible. Instead, the fibrous edges of the cleft were resected and the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve was reconstructed using an autologous pericardial patch pretreated with buffered glutaraldehyde. All 4 patients underwent annuloplasty together with placement of a Carpentier mitral ring. Postoperative echocardiograms have confirmed good results of the repair; 1 patient has a trivial insufficiency and 3 have a completely competent mitral valve.

Carpentier "sliding leaflet" technique for repair of the mitral valve: early results.

Reconstructive mitral valve operation is now the preferred technique for the surgical treatment of prolapse of the posterior leaflet due to degenerative disease. Systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction has been observed after such repair, with an incidence ranging from 4.5% to 10%. In an attempt to reduce the incidence of this complication, Carpentier has devised a new technique: the sliding leaflet plasty of the posterior leaflet. We report on 48 patients who underwent this new procedure between July 1990 and July 1992. One patient died perioperatively (2.1%). All other patients were able to be discharged on the ninth postoperative day. All patients underwent M-mode, two-dimensional, and Doppler echocardiography before discharge. Forty-one patients (85%) had no evidence of postoperative regurgitation, whereas 7 patients (15%) showed mild mitral valve insufficiency. Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction due to systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve was never detected. We believe that this technique of mitral valve repair is safe and seems to be effective in achieving a decreased incidence of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction.

Valve repair for mitral regurgitation caused by isolated prolapse of the posterior leaflet.

BACKGROUND: Although prolapse of the posterior leaflet is the most common abnormality of the mitral valve causing dysfunction, the long-term results of mitral valve repair for this condition are seldom reported. METHODS: From October 1988 to June 1994, 208 patients (mean age, 59.4 years) with mitral regurgitation caused by isolated prolapse of the posterior leaflet underwent mitral valve repair alone or combined with myocardial revascularization (n = 30). The surgical techniques were quadrangular resection (n = 199) followed by annulus plication (n = 101) or sliding leaflet plasty (n = 98), use of artificial chordae (n = 5), or papillary muscle shortening (n = 4). All patients had an annuloplasty with a Carpentier ring. Mean follow-up was 3.4 +/- 0.1 years and total follow-up, 656 patient-years. RESULTS: There were six operative deaths (2.9%). Postoperative Doppler echocardiography found two cases of systolic anterior motion (1%), and echocardiographic studies at follow-up showed satisfactory mitral valve function in 97% of 112 patients. At 6 years, the actuarial survival rate was 87% +/- 7%, and freedom from thromboembolic complications, bleeding complications, and reoperation was 93% +/- 7%, 95% +/- 3%, and 95% +/- 4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Mitral valve repair for regurgitation caused by prolapse of the posterior leaflet provides excellent survival at 6 years and should be considered the method of choice for its surgical treatment.

[Isolated prolapse of the posterior leaflet of the mitral valve. Results of reconstructive surgery]. / Prolapsus isolé du feuillet postérieur de la valve mitrale. Résultats de la chirurgie reconstructrice.

Out of 522 patients undergoing mitral valve reconstruction for mitral regurgitation between 1988 and June 1994, the authors studied 159 cases of isolated mitral regurgitation by prolapse of the posterior mitral leaflet. There were 98 men (62%) and 61 women (38%), with an average age of 58.4 +/- 10.4 years. The functional class and ejection fraction were 2.8 +/- 0.11 and 0.66 +/- 0.2 respectively. In 155 patients, surgery consisted in quadrangular resection of the prolapsed tissue, followed in 83 cases by sliding posterior valvuloplasty and in 72 cases by plicature of the annulus. In 4 cases, the prolapse was treated by implantation of artificial chordae tendinae. A Carpentier-Edwards ring was inserted in all cases. There were no hospital deaths. Echocardiography was performed before discharge from hospital and showed satisfactory mitral valve function in 98% of cases: slight systolic anterior motion (SAM) was observed in one case. All patients were followed up for an average of 3.67 +/- 0.10 years. At six years, survival was 93 +/- 7%; moreover, 93 +/- 7% and 97 +/- 3% of patients had no thromboembolic or haemorrhagic complications. Six patients were reoperated, three of them in the first year of follow-up. At six years, 95 +/- 5% of patients were free of reoperation and 81 +/- 11% were free of all complications. The authors conclude that the excellent medium term survival and the low rate of complications are evidence in favour of conservative surgery for treatment of mitral regurgitation due to prolapse of the posterior mitral leaflet.

[Clinical experiences with mitral valve reconstruction]. / Klinische Erfahrungen mit der Mitralklappenrekonstruktion.

Between October 1988 and December 1993, 433 patients with mitral valve insufficiency underwent mitral valve repair. Patient's age ranged from 13 to 82 years (mean age 59.5 years). Mitral valve insufficiency was due to degenerative disease in 192 patients (44%), ischemic disease in 102 (23%), rheumatic disease in 76 (18%) and other causes in 63 patients (15%). Most of the patients (337) were in functional class III or IV. The patients were divided into 3 functional groups: type I (normal leaflet motion) 141 patients (33%), type II (leaflet prolapse) 265 patients (61%) and type III (restricted leaflet motion) 27 patients (6%). Two patients were lost to follow-up for a total follow-up of 761 patients per year. The operative mortality was 2.5% for the total group, 0.4% for the group with isolated mitral valve insufficiency, 7.5% for the group with mitral valve repair associated with coronary artery bypass grafting and 2.9% for the group associated with tricuspid valve repair. At the time of the discharge, 71% of the patient at Doppler echocardiography showed no mitral regurgitation, 25.5%, 3% and 0.5% showed a mitral regurgitation grade 1,2 or 3 respectively. The 5-year actuarial survival was 84%. At 5 years, 96% of the patients were free from reoperation, 96% free from thromboembolism and 93% free from bleeding complications. Among the survivors 93% of the patients were in functional class I or II.