Mitral valve repair by Alfieri's technique does not limit exercise tolerance more than Carpentier's correction

The main goal of this study was to evaluate if the edge-to-edge mitral repair could be a limiting factor for exercise tolerance and to compare these results to those of classical techniques.

Between 2000 and 2002, 54 consecutive patients were operated on for mitral valve regurgitation (MR). Twenty-five patients were operated with Alfieri's technique (group A) and 29 patients with Carpentier's technique (group C). The mean age was 63.9 years in group A and 63.8 years in group C (p = 0.98). After a mean follow-up of 16.2+/-12 months, survivor patients were seen at the outpatient clinic, by the same physician for a clinical evaluation, an echocardiogram at rest and at peak exercise, and received a cardiorespiratory exercise testing with maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) recording.

Clinical status improved with 0% of the patients in class NYHA III or IV in either group postoperatively versus 77% preoperatively. There was no significant MR in 80% of cases in group A versus 89.6% in group C (p = 0.54). The mean mitral valve area was 2.5 and 2.9 cm2 in groups A and C, respectively (p = 0.018). The mitral gradient at rest was 3.8 and 3.3 mmHg (p = 0.31) and the mitral gradient at peak exercise was 8.5 and 9.7 mmHg (p = 0.22) in groups A and C, respectively. Cardiorespiratory exercise testing showed a mean VO2 max of 73.7+/-15% of normal value in group A versus 79.6+/-13.1% in group C (p = 0.18).

Alfieri's technique has the same efficiency on improvement of MR and clinical status than classical repair. Despite a higher restriction of mitral valve area at rest in group A, gradient and mean VO2 max at peak exercise were similar in both groups.