[Evaluation of lung function and pulmonary hypertension preceding surgery of acquired heart defects]

We investigated the connection between the pulmonary hypertension and the lung function in the preoperative time of 176 patients undergoing an operation for prosthetic valve replacement in mitral and aortal position and in both of them. Excluding other causes of restriction we found a distinct coherence between vital capacity and residual volume in heart failures of the mitral valve. The findings of patients with aortic valve disease of the heart show the same trend as in the mitral valve, but there are differences of quantity. The changed respiratory mechanics is dependent of the disturbed haemodynamics and depends on the duration of the development of the valvular defect, too.