Survival after mitral valve replacement: does the valve type and/or size make a difference?

The surgical replacement of diseased heart valves is based on the premise that the prosthesis chosen to replace a stenotic or insufficient valve will have a beneficial impact on the patient’s heart function, taking into account the risks of surgery and the recognized complications of prosthetic heart valves. It is well established that mitral valve replacement (MVR) is associated with higher shortand long-term mortality than mitral valve repair.1,2 Although the exact mechanism for this discrepancy is unknown, it increases the importance of repairing valves whenever possible and, when MVR is necessary, intervening to prevent prosthesisand/or patient-related factors that may lead to less favorable postoperative outcomes.