The complications of valvular prosthesis has led us to preserve the mitral valve.

Objective:

This paper analyses mitral reconstruction in 66 patients (pts.) where the ring of Gregori-Braile was used, in the period between October 1989 and October 1995.

Casuistic and Methods:

45 (74.1 per cent) were male and the mean age was 32.9 years. Rheumatic disease was present in 49 pts. and mitral insufficiency in 38 pts. (57.5 per cent). The follow-up was 2.560 pts./mounth (mean 38.8 months) in 64 pts. (96.9 per cent).

The method used to evaluate the patients were as follows:

clinical symptoms in FC (NYHAC), systolic mitral murmur and Doppler-echocardiographic study in the pre and post-operative period.

The mitral techniques were:

ring implantation, mobilization of leaflets and chordae tendinae and restriction of valve mobility. Shortening of the chordae was used in 44 pts. (66.6 per cent).

Associated procedures were:

reduction of the LA (8 pts.), aortic valve replacement (3 pts.) and Cox procedure in 3 pts. One patient died (1.5 per cent) in early PO from pulmonar thromboembolism.

Results:

The PO functional class improved. In the pre-op 41 pts. (62.1 per cent) were in FC III and 23 pts. in FCIV (34.8 per cent). In the PO, 53 pts (80.3 per cent) were in FC I and 8 pts. (12.1 per cent) in FC II. The mitral murmur was absent or + intensity in 92.4 per cent in PO. The FC and murmur improved significantly (p < 0.001). The Doppler-echocardiographic study showed: mean left ventricular diastolic diameter was 5.96 cm in the pre-op and 5.33 cm in the PO (p < 0.001); mean LA dimension was 5.67 cm (pre-op) and 4.65 cm in the PO (p < 0.001); mean aortic diameter was 2.97 cm in the pre-op and 3.13 cm in PO (p < 0.01); the mean shortening was 35.38 per cent in pre-op and 34.12 per cent in PO (not significantly). The mean valve area was 1.7 cm2 in the pre-op period and 2.43 cm2 in PO (p < 0.003) and the mean gradient pressure in the pre-op and PO period was 11.10 mmHg and 5.58 mmHg (p < 0.003), respectively. In the late PO, 3 pts. died (4.5 per cent). After 72 months, the survival was 95.5 per cent, 96 per cent free from reoperation and 98.4 per cent free from thromboembolism.

Conclusions:

Mitral reconstruction is a safe procedure, the improvement in functional class was statistically significant, and the procedure should be done whenever possible to correct the mixed lesion and mitral insufficiency.