Objective: To summarize the early and midterm outcomes of artificial chordae transplant in mitral valve repair.
Methods: A total of 50 patients underwent mitral valve repair with artificial chordae transplant from January 2009 to January 2010 in General Hospital of Shenyang Military Command. Follow-up was conducted on 48 cases (96%) for 3-4 years.
Results: No early postoperative mortality occurred. All cases had cardiac function New York Heart Association (NYHA) grade I/II at discharge. Among 48 cases, one died of cerebral infarction after 13 months and the reminder survived and no one underwent reoperation. Among survivors, 45 cases were in cardiac function NYHA grade I and another 2 in grade II. Echocardiography showed that postoperative 3 years left atrial diameter, left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, left ventricular end-systolic dimension and the ratio of regurgitation beam area and left atrial area were significantly smaller than those preoperative ones (39.5% ± 9.7% vs 5.6% ± 0.1%, P < 0.01) and left ventricular ejection fraction increased markedly (0.55 ± 0.06 vs 0.67 ± 0.07, P < 0.01). There was no instance of artificial chordae rupture.
Conclusion: Gore-Tex artificial chordae transplant is a safe and effective technique in mitral valve repair with excellent early and midterm operative outcomes.