[Clinical experiences with mitral valve reconstruction]

Between October 1988 and December 1993, 433 patients with mitral valve insufficiency underwent mitral valve repair. Patient's age ranged from 13 to 82 years (mean age 59.5 years). Mitral valve insufficiency was due to degenerative disease in 192 patients (44%), ischemic disease in 102 (23%), rheumatic disease in 76 (18%) and other causes in 63 patients (15%). Most of the patients (337) were in functional class III or IV. The patients were divided into 3 functional groups: type I (normal leaflet motion) 141 patients (33%), type II (leaflet prolapse) 265 patients (61%) and type III (restricted leaflet motion) 27 patients (6%). Two patients were lost to follow-up for a total follow-up of 761 patients per year. The operative mortality was 2.5% for the total group, 0.4% for the group with isolated mitral valve insufficiency, 7.5% for the group with mitral valve repair associated with coronary artery bypass grafting and 2.9% for the group associated with tricuspid valve repair. At the time of the discharge, 71% of the patient at Doppler echocardiography showed no mitral regurgitation, 25.5%, 3% and 0.5% showed a mitral regurgitation grade 1,2 or 3 respectively. The 5-year actuarial survival was 84%. At 5 years, 96% of the patients were free from reoperation, 96% free from thromboembolism and 93% free from bleeding complications. Among the survivors 93% of the patients were in functional class I or II.