Short Coaptation Length is a Predictor of Recurrent Mitral Regurgitation After Mitral Valve Plasty

Long-term predictors of recurrent mitral regurgitation (MR) after mitral valve plasty (MVP) remain to be elucidated. This study sought to determine the prognostic factors of recurrent MR during long-term follow-up after MVP, by analysing findings of three-dimensional transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) conducted after MVP.

This study analysed 207 patients who underwent MVP for A2 and/or P2 prolapse and received TEE before discharge. Recurrent MR was defined as moderate or worse regurgitation detected by annual transthoracic echocardiography.

During a median follow-up period of 49 months after MVP, 18 patients experienced recurrent MR and six patients needed reoperation. In the recurrent group, 16 of 18 patients showed less than moderate MR before discharge. Patients in the recurrent group underwent repair for worse MR (effective orifice area, 54±19 vs 44±16 mm²; p=0.01) and had shorter A2-P2 coaptation length (5.3±1.4 vs 7.3±1.5 mm; p<0.001) after MVP compared with the non-recurrent group. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis identified the A2-P2 coaptation length as significant risk of recurrent MR (coaptation length increase: HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.32-0.59; p<0.0001). The receiver operator characteristics curve demonstrated that a coaptation length of <5.6 mm had 78% sensitivity and 89% specificity for predicting recurrent MR.

Coaptation length measured by post-MVP TEE predicted the tendency of recurrent MR. Patients with short coaptation length should be carefully monitored, even when residual MR is less than moderate after MVP.