[Mitral valve surgery using combined superior-transseptal approach to the left atrium]

Although various approaches to the mitral valve surgery have been tried in the past, it still may be difficult to obtain a good surgical field, particularly in cases of small left atrium or reoperation. We performed mitral valve surgery in 6 patients using the combined superior-transseptal approach to the left atrium proposed by Berreklouw. Exposure of the mitral valve was excellent and the operative procedure was simple in all cases. There were no differences in bleeding volume, length of operation or complication of arrhythmia between patients treated with this new approach and a group treated with conventional approach in our institute.