[Valve replacement concomitant with anulus reconstruction]

It is important that surgical treatment of infective endocarditis involves complete debridement of the affected tissue. In case of abscess formation in the mitral anulus and/or aortic root, disruption of the anulus occurs because of radical resection of the abscess. David et al. reported a new technique for mitral and aortic anulus reconstruction. The novel part of the technique was the endocardial repair, i.e., suturing of a pericardial patch to the endocardium of the left ventricle. We were surprised to learn that the left ventricular endocardium and muscle are capable of tolerating the stress induced by the prosthetic ring, especially in the mitral position. Since 1992, we treated eight cases of anulus disruption using this technique ; 5 cases involved the mitral anulus, 1 involved the aortic, and 2 involved both. We used a slightly different technique involving suturing of a patch not only to the left ventricular endocardium but also to left atrial wall for reinforcement. Two patients died in the perioperative period. One had a brain abscess ; the other had methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus sepsis and mediastinitis. There was 1 late (sudden, unknown) death 3 years after the operation. No perivalvular leakage, dehiscence of the patch, hemolysis, prosthetic valve endocarditis, or thromboembolism have been observed in the other 5 patients.