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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

A Simplified Stepwise Approach to Echo Guidance during Percutaneous Mitral Valve Repair
Published on: October 16, 2021
Quality of life after mitral valve repair
Jouni Heikkinen1, Fausto Biancari, Jari Satta
1Division of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.
Background And Aim Of The Study:
Mitral valve repair for degenerative and ischemic mitral valve regurgitation has been shown to be a durable procedure. The study aim was to evaluate the quality of life of patients who had undergone mitral valve repair, and to compare it to that of an age- and gender-adjusted Finnish general population.
Methods:
Among 130 late survivors after mitral valve repair, 109 (83.8%) answered the RAND-36 Health Survey questionnaire; these patients form the basis of the present study.
Results:
The Wilcoxon test showed significantly higher mental health (p = 0.04) and pain scores (p = 0.015) and a lower role functioning/physical score (p = 0.008) in the study group. The scores of the other RAND-36 Health Survey variables of the study group were similar to those of the age- and gender-adjusted general population. The mean total score for the study group was 512 (median 532, IQR 360-678), compared to 522 (median 538, IQR 468-549) in the general population (p = 0.72) (only 95 patients were included in the analysis due to isolated missing scores).
Conclusion:
The quality of life of long-term survivors after mitral valve repair, as assessed by the RAND-36 Health Survey, is similar to that of an age- and gender-adjusted general Finnish population.
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