Valve repair is the best surgical treatment for mitral regurgitation. In the present article we describe the results of mitral valve repair in patients with chronic mitral regurgitation treated at our center during the last eight years. The degree of correction of valve insufficiency, functional benefit, in-hospital morbidity and mortality, postoperative outcome of ventricular function, and mid...

BACKGROUND Several investigators have reported the feasibility of mitral valve repair in active endocarditis, but the long-term results are still unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS We reviewed 37 consecutive patients who underwent mitral valve repair with the Carpentier technique for active endocarditis in our center between 1989 and 1994. This repair involved prosthetic annuloplasty in 31 patients...

OBJECTIVES Ischaemic mitral valve regurgitation is associated with a significant reduction in survival and its treatment in patients undergoing surgical ventricular reconstruction is usually associated with higher perioperative morbidity and mortality. We evaluated our 11-year experience in this cohort of patients. METHODS Between January 2000 and December 2010, a total of 282 patients underw...

Transcatheter transfemoral mitral valve repair using the MitraClip system (Abbott Vascular, USA) is used in high-risk or inoperable patients with severe mitral regurgitation. We report the first-in-human simultaneous transfemoral clipping of the mitral and tricuspid valve completed by occlusion of an atrial septal defect (ASD). The procedure was performed in an 84-year-old patient in October 20...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate pediatric atrioventricular valve repair with artificial chordae. METHODS Between February 2001 and January 2006, artificial chords were used in 21 children with severe mitral or tricuspid valve regurgitation. Patients with AVSD were excluded. Median age was 84 (1-194) months. Five patients had isolated tricuspid valve anomalies, 16 had mitral valve anomalies (associated ...

OBJECTIVE To review a 2-institution experience with minimally invasive mitral valve surgery over a 12-year period. METHODS We prospectively collected data on all patients having minimally invasive mitral valve surgery through a right minithoracotomy between May 1996 and May 2008. RESULTS A total of 1178 patients included 941 (79.9%) patients having mitral valve repair and 237 (20.1%) having...

Objective: Mitral valve repair in rheumatic patients is still a challenge. The aim of this study is to assess the results of mitral valve repair in rheumatic patients with rheumatic mitral insufficiency. Methods: 330 patients with rheumatic mitral insufficiency who had undergone mitral valve repair in the Heart Institute HC-FMUSP were assessed retrospectively, between 1985 and 2005. The mean ag...

In cases of old myocardial infarction, the presence of mitral valve regurgitation is one of the predicting factors of long-term prognosis. The mechanism of ischemic mitral regurgitation consists of mitral annular dilatation, left ventricular (LV) dilatation followed by tethering of the mitral valve, etc. Since long-term prognosis of the patients in whom the degree of mitral valve regurgitation ...

See related article on page 1350. I n this issue of the Journal, Gillinov and colleagues provide us with another valuable contribution in the field of mitral valve repair from their large experience at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation available for sophisticated and cutting-edge (ie, Eugene Blackstone) statistical analysis. The superiority of mitral valve repair over replacement in patients with...

Paravalvular leak (PVL) occurs in up to 12.5% of mitral valve replacements (MVRs) and sometimes recurs. Although various techniques to repair such leaks have been described, surgical intervention for patients undergoing multiple repeat surgery poses a formidable challenge. For the purposes of good exposure and durable repair of mitral PVL, we describe a double closure technique with pledgeted s...