Objective: To evaluate late outcomes after posterior mitral valve (MV) annulus double-suture annuloplasty for degenerative (non-ischaemic) MV insufficiency.
Design: Between 2005 and 2011, 138 patients underwent MV repair using posterior MV double-suture annuloplasty and an additional 105 patients underwent tricuspid valve repair. The study protocol included operative mortality, reoperation rate and reasons, as well as echocardiographic parameters at pre- and postoperative and follow-up periods (2-9 years).
Results: In-hospital mortality was 2/138 (1.45%). Early post operation, no regurgitation was noted in 74/136 (54.4%) patients, I(o) regurgitation was observed in 55/136 (40.4%), II(o) was observed in 6/136 (4.4%) and III(o) was observed in 1/136 (0.7%); during late follow-up (from 2 to 9 years), no regurgitation was observed in 21.6% patients, I(o) was observed in 58%, II(o) was observed in 17% and III(o) was observed in 3.4%. The mean preoperative anterolateral diameter of the MV annulus was 39.02±4.97 mm and, at late follow-up, it was 27.66±3.94 mm (p=0.000); at these same time points, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) was 55.74±7.29 mm and 49.17±6.01 mm (p=0.000), respectively, and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 53.08±8.93% and 50.92±6.78%, respectively (p=0.007).
Conclusions: This study demonstrates suture annuloplasty to be an effective treatment up to 9 years for degenerative mitral valve disease. This technique enables preservation of the posterior mitral valve annulus diameter with stable long-term (up to 9 years) reduction, a competent (no regurgitation/⩽II(o) regurgitation) MV in 96.6% of cases and positive left ventricular (LV) remodelling.
Keywords: echocardiography; mitral regurgitation; mitral valve annulus; non-ischaemic mitral valve; suture annuloplasty.
© The Author(s) 2016.