Traumatic mitral insufficiency following percutaneous mitral dilation: anatomic lesions and surgical implications

Percutaneous mitral dilation is a widely accepted technique for treating pure mitral stenosis. Traumatic mitral insufficiency may occur secondary to this technique raising the problem of the feasibility of mitral valve repair. Twenty patients were operated on for traumatic mitral insufficiency following percutaneous mitral dilation. Three patients required emergency operations (within 6 h). In the other cases, surgery was carried out within the following days or weeks. Operative analysis of the mitral valves showed the following lesions: tear of the anterior leaflet (n = 4), tear of the posterior leaflet (n = 2), anterior (n = 4) or posterior (n = 9) paracommissural tear and papillary muscle rupture (n = 1). Associated chordal rupture was found in 3 patients. Septal perforation secondary to transseptal puncture was found in all cases. A septal tear of more than 10 mm was present in 4 patients. Surgery consisted of mitral valve reconstruction (n = 12) or mitral valve replacement (n = 8). Anatomic lesions following percutaneous mitral dilation may affect all the elements of the mitral valve apparatus. The possibility of repair depends more on the degree of calcification of the valve than on the extent of the leaflet tear.