Long-term clinical results after combined aortic and mitral valve replacement

The results after 282 consecutive double (aortic & mitral) valve replacements (DVR) are compared with our previously reported experience after mitral (MVR, n = 810) and aortic valve replacement (AVR, n = 1753). All but one patient received Bj?rk-Shiley valves. The follow-up which closed on August 1, 1985 was 99.3% and covered 16,869 patient-years (mean 6.3 years/patient). Autopsies were performed in 74% of all fatalities. Early mortality rates were identical in the three patient groups, and late mortality did not differ between MVR and DVR patients. The fraction of valve-related mortality was similar in all groups. Anticoagulant-related bleeding was equally common in all patient groups. The incidences of thromboembolism, reoperation and valve failure did not differ between MVR and DVR patients, but were significantly higher than among AVR patients. With the exception of a slightly increased incidence of prosthetic valve endocarditis, the results after DVR equal those after MVR. In cases with severe mitral valve disease but borderline aortic valve disease, primary DVR is clearly justified and eliminates the need for, and risks of, a secondary AVR.     

单纯二尖瓣置换术3416例疗效分析

目的探讨单纯二尖瓣置换术的近远期疗效。方法复习1978年12月至2003年12月期间施行单纯二尖瓣置换手术3416例的病例和随访资料,统计分析术后近、远期病死率、死亡原因、并发症以及影响疗效的高危因素。结果风湿性二尖瓣病变占91.80%,合并功能性三尖瓣关闭不全或器质性病变达50.32%,合并慢性疾病者为8.92%。手术死亡率为3.25%,主要死因是心力衰竭;总随访时间24735.83病人·年,20年累计生存率为(86.36±0.74)%;晚期病死率为0.84%病人·年,心力衰竭仍是主要死因。血栓栓塞为0.18%病人·年,与抗凝有关出血为0.68%病人·年;手术前心功能IV级、肾功能衰竭、严重感染和多脏器功能衰竭是显著影响手术死亡的高危因素。结论合理选择手术时机、重视三尖瓣关闭不全和心律失常的处理、积极防治风湿病复发有助于改善二尖瓣病变的手术预后。     

Intermediate results of aortic valve replacement using 19 mm bioprosthetic valve

Pre- and postoperative hemodynamic parameters and activity of daily life were reviewed to estimate the effectiveness of the valve in 12 cases of single aortic valve replacement (AVR) using 19 mm bioprosthesis. All implanted prostheses were stented-valves. Carpentier-Edwards pericardial valve was used in 7 cases and Mosaic valve in 5. Left ventricular mass index (LVMI) significantly decreased from 167 +/- 36 to 133 +/- 27 g/m2 in the early postoperative period, and to 115 +/- 24 g/m2 in the intermediate phase. However, postoperative LVMI remained higher in patients with body surface area (BSA) over 1.5 m2 than in those under 1.5 m2. Postoperative activity indicated by New York Heart Association (NYHA) grade significantly improved from 2.3 +/- 1.1 to 1.4 +/- 0.5. These results indicates usefulness of 19 mm bioprosthetic valve for reducing left ventricular hypertrophy and improving activity, especially in patients with BSA smaller than 1.5 m2.     

Long-term results of mitral valve repair

(1) Carpentier techniques of repair are the dominant method today because of durability and reproducible results. (2) Mitral valve repair results in high survival, low risk of anticoagulant-related complications, and low risk of infective endocarditis. (3) Long-term anticoagulation is avoided in approximately half of the patients; yet, over the long term, thromboembolism occurs significantly less with repair than with valve replacement. (4) The rate of reoperation after mitral valve repair is not significantly different from that of mechanical valve replacement up to 10 postoperative years. (5) Mitral valve repair for degenerative mitral regurgitation results in a higher freedom from reoperation at 5 years and beyond, compared with rheumatic causes of regurgitation. (6) Ischemic and congenital etiologies for mitral regurgitation demand repair whenever feasible. Results in these patient groups favor repair over other options.     

Homograft replacement of the mitral valve: eight-year results

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess whether the mitral homograft represents a valuable alternative for complete or partial mitral valve replacement. METHODS: Since 1993, 104 patients underwent mitral homograft replacement surgery. The mean age was 38 +/- 15 years. The causes of mitral valve disease were rheumatic disease (n = 76), infective endocarditis (n = 24), and others (n = 4). Sixty-five of these procedures were total homografts, and 39 were partial homografts. RESULTS: The mean follow-up was 52 +/- 35 months (maximum, 117 months). Overall hospital mortality was 4 (3.8%) of 104 patients and 2.5% versus 8.7% for patients without endocarditis and with endocarditis, respectively (P <.19). There were 9 late deaths (cardiac, 4; noncardiac, 5). There have been 5 early (<3 months) and 10 late reoperations. Of the remaining 77 patients, New York Heart Association class was I in 61, II in 14, and III in 2. Four patients had endocarditis, and 5 had an ischemic or hemorrhagic event. Freedom from major cardiac events was 71% +/- 6% at 8 years (partial at 81% vs total at 63%, P <.19). Among patients with a total homograft, freedom from major cardiac events was 61% +/- 9% and 85% +/- 8% at 6 years in patients younger than and older than 40 years, respectively (P =.09). CONCLUSION: The risk of early dysfunction related to a mismatch between the mitral homograft and the patient's valve is the main pitfall of the technique. Beyond that stage, the results were comparable with those of bioprostheses in a cohort of young patients.     

A comparison of mitral valve reconstruction with mitral valve replacement: intermediate-term results

The continued good results after mitral valve reconstruction prompted this retrospective study to compare operative and late results from our institutional experience since 1976 with 975 porcine mitral valve replacements (MVRs) (1976 to December 1987), 169 mechanical MVRs (1976 to December 1987), and 280 Carpentier-type mitral valve reconstructions (CVRs) (1980 to mid-1988). The operative mortality was 2.0% for isolated CVR, 6.6% for isolated mechanical MVR, and 8.5% for isolated porcine MVR. The overall operative mortality was 5.0% for CVR, 16.6% for mechanical MVR, and 10.6% for porcine MVR. The overall 5-year survival including hospital deaths was 76% for CVR, 72% for mechanical MVR, and 69% for porcine MVR. By multivariate analysis, the predictors of increased operative risk and of decreased survival were age, New York Heart Association functional class IV status, previous cardiac operation, and performance of concomitant cardiac surgical procedures. The type of valvular procedure was not predictive of operative risk or overall survival. The 5-year freedom from reoperation was 94.4% for nonrheumatic patients having CVR, 77.4% for rheumatic patients having CVR, 96.4% for mechanical MVR, and 96.6% for porcine MVR (p less than 0.05, rheumatic patients with CVR versus both MVR groups). The 5-year freedom from all valve-related morbidity and mortality was significantly better for valve reconstruction compared with both types of valve replacement. Thus, the operative risk and late survival obtained after mitral valve reconstruction were at least equivalent to those obtained after MVR. In addition, patients receiving mitral valve reconstruction had less valve-related combined morbidity than patients receiving valve replacement, thus making mitral valve reconstruction preferable in some patients with mitral insufficiency.     

Long-term clinical results after mitral valve replacement with the Bj?rk-Shiley prosthesis

The experience of 810 mitral valve replacements performed during a 15-year period (1969 to June 1983) is reported. All but one patient received a Bj?rk-Shiley disc valve. Five different Bj?rk-Shiley models were used (Delrin, n = 51; standard pyrolytic carbon, n = 307; convexo-concave with an opening angle of 60 degrees, n = 229; convexo-concave with an opening angle of 70 degrees, n = 123; and the Monostrut valve, n = 99). The follow-up was 99.8% complete and covered 4614 patient-years (mean 6.0 years). An autopsy was performed in 77% of all fatalities. Early mortality was 5.7% and decreased during the study period. The 5-, 10-, and 15-year actuarial survival rates (early mortality excluded) were 78%, 62%, and 51%, respectively, and the complication-free survival rates at the same time intervals were 67%, 51%, and 36%. Seven percent of early deaths and 25% of late deaths were valve related, and most of these were due to valve thrombosis. The incidence of valve thrombosis was significantly (p less than 0.0005) reduced after the introduction of the convexo-concave valves, and this reduction was achieved without any increase in bleeding complications. The only patient-related factor found to be related to postoperative thromboembolism was a history of preoperative embolism (p less than 0.05). Most events occurring after implant (death, embolism, valve thrombosis, reoperation, and valve failure) had a peak incidence during the first postoperative year, whereas anticoagulant-related bleedings occurred at a constant rate of 1.2/100 patient-years. The linearized incidence of embolism was 1.6/100 patient-years (actuarial incidence at 5 and 10 years 6.9% and 13.0%, respectively). Seven strut fractures occurred (0.2/100 patient-years, actuarial incidence at 5 and 10 years 1.1%), as did five instances of prosthetic valve endocarditis (0.1/100 patient-years, actuarial incidence at 5 and 10 years, 0.7% and 1.3%). A new concept of valve failure is presented and includes a distinction between events related to the surgical procedure (treatment failure; 1.9/100 patient-years, actuarial incidence at 5 and 10 years 11.0% and 13.5%) and events possibly related to the prosthesis (prosthetic failure; 1.1/100 patient-years, actuarial incidence at 5 and 10 years 7.0% and 8.0%).     

Late results after mitral valve replacement

Recent reports on mitral valve replacement (MVR) are reviewed and topics in this field are discussed. In addition to the widely used St. Jude Medical (SJM) valve, five other bileaflet prosthetic valves are now commercially available in Japan. The clinical performance of the new type of bileaflet valve appears similar to that of the SJM valve. The lincarized rate of thromboembolism occurrence for any bileaflet valve is less than a few %/patient-year in most reports. The actuarial and actual freedom from structural valve deterioration(SVD) 14 years after MVR with the Carpentier-Edwards pericardial valve was reported to be 69% and 83%, respectively, while the actuarial freedom from SVD 12 years after MVR with the Hancock II porcine valve was 82%. In Japan, the rate of use of bioprostheses is approximately 10%. When selecting a prosthetic valve, informed patient consent based on the most recent data is recommended. Numerous reports have been published on chorda-preserving MVR indicating the superiority of this technique over conventional MVR in terms of left ventricular function. There are several options for prescribing the chordae and for artificial chordae reconstruction. Improved methods for sparing the chordae are being investigated in animal models.     

Homograft mitral valve replacement: five years' results

OBJECTIVE: Results of mitral valve replacement with a mitral homograft were evaluated at 5 years to assess the suitability of the procedure. METHODS: Thirty-seven patients (25 male subjects) aged 10 to 49 years (mean, 32 +/- 10 years) with rheumatic mitral valve disease underwent total (n = 35) or partial (n = 2) mitral valve replacement with a fresh antibiotic-preserved (n = 23) or cryopreserved (n = 14) mitral homograft. The predominant lesion was mitral stenosis (n = 30). RESULTS: There were 5 early deaths. Operative survivors were followed up for 1 to 60 months (mean, 26.6 +/- 12 months). Among these, 21 patients had severe mitral regurgitation during the follow-up period; 3 died and 8 underwent reoperation. The homograft failure rate was not affected by preoperative physiologic lesion (stenosis vs regurgitation, P =.4), type of homograft (antibiotic-preserved vs cryopreserved homograft, P =.9), papillary muscle pretreatment (yes vs no, P =.9), or addition of posterior collar annuloplasty (yes vs no, P =.2). Among the remaining patients, 5 had moderate mitral regurgitation, 4 had either trivial or mild mitral regurgitation, and 2 were lost to follow-up. Study of the explanted mitral homografts (n = 8) revealed that disruption of one of the donor papillary muscles was responsible for early failures (n = 2), whereas cuspal and chordal degeneration was responsible for late failures (n = 6). Microscopically, the explanted valve lacked any viable cellular elements, and there was no evidence of immunologic injury to the homografts. CONCLUSION: The mitral homograft did not fulfill our expectations as a suitable substitute for the diseased mitral valve.     

Long-term results of aortic valve replacement

In order to improve the quality of life after cardiac valvular surgery, new procedures and new prostheses have been developed in the past decade. Surgeons have many alternatives for the individual patient. However, some may only represent a trend without any clinical advantage, some may increase the surgical risk, and some may have limited indications for specific types of heart disease. Therefore the selection of the procedure and prosthesis is very important. The new mechanical valves have a thinner ring and cuff, providing a larger orifice for patients with a small aortic annulus, and enlargement procedures are now rarely required. Second-generation biological valves have been used for more than 15 years. In the aortic position in elderly patients, the rate of freedom from structural deterioration is over 90% at 15 years. The stentless valve is the most notable newer prosthesis and has significant hemodynamic advantages, associated with good myocardial remodeling.     

The results of valve replacement for mitral valve prolapse

Between January, 1975, and December, 1982, 33 patients underwent mitral valve replacement for mitral valve prolapse secondary to myxomatous degeneration. The majority were in the seventh decade of life (median age, 62 years), and all were seen with symptoms of mitral regurgitation. Echocardiography was more accurate in making the diagnosis of mitral valve prolapse more often (75%) than angiography (66%). Thirty-eight percent of the patients who underwent cineangiography had concomitant coronary artery disease and had coronary artery bypass grafting as well as mitral valve replacement. There was 1 operative death, an operative mortality of 3%. There were 6 late deaths, a late mortality of 18%. Of the 26 long-term survivors, 23 (88%) were in New York Heart Association Functional Class I and 3 (12%) were in Class II. The average length of follow-up was 33.25 months, and the 5-year actuarial survival was 76%. There was only one incident of thromboembolism (3%). Short-term and long-term survival were not related to the severity of mitral regurgitation but to the status of the left ventricle and the overall condition of the patient. These data suggest that older patients with severe mitral regurgitation secondary to mitral valve prolapse can undergo valve replacement with low operative mortality and gratifying long-term results.     

Early results of mitral valve replacement.

Early results of mitral valve replacement were reviewed in 336 unselected patients, 261 without and 75 with concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting (MVR and MVR + CABG groups). Early (less than 30 days) mortality was 7% in the MVR and 16% in the MVR + CABG group, with cardiac failure as the dominant cause. In multivariate analysis, the variables most strongly related to early mortality were congestive heart failure, diabetes and previous cardiac surgery in the MVR group and congestive heart failure in MVR + CABG. In the cases with fatal outcome the incidence of peroperative technical complications was 32% at MVR and 17% at MVR + CABG. The incidence of myocardial injury was 21% and 35% in the respective groups, and the early mortality in these cases was 19% vs 23%. Half of all fatal cases showed signs of peroperative myocardial injury. Multivariate analysis showed factors independently related to myocardial injury to be year of surgery and aortic cross-clamp time in MVR and previous cardiac surgery in MVR + CABG. Operation before cardiac reserves are reduced, optimal peroperative myocardial preservation and avoidance of technical errors should improve results of MVR.     

国产侧倾碟瓣二尖瓣置换术125例患者20年随访结果

目的　分析国产侧倾碟瓣二尖瓣置换术后 2 0年随访的结果 ,探讨影响患者近、远期临床疗效的因素。　方法　回顾性分析 1978年 9月～ 1982年 6月 ,应用国产侧倾碟瓣膜施行二尖瓣置换术 12 5例的临床资料及随访结果。结果　本组患者风湿性二尖瓣狭窄 31例 ,二尖瓣狭窄合并关闭不全 92例 ,二尖瓣细菌性心内膜炎 2例。其中合并三尖瓣功能性关闭不全 5例 ,3例有二尖瓣狭窄闭式扩张分离术病史。 12 5例患者均采用国产侧倾碟瓣 ( 2 5～ 2 9mm)施行二尖瓣置换术 ,合并中度以上三尖瓣功能性关闭不全者行改良DeVega或Kay法环缩术。术后发生并发症 31例 ,住院期间死亡 11例 ( 8 8% )。早期死亡原因为低心排出量综合征、呼吸功能衰竭、急性肾功能衰竭、人造瓣膜功能障碍等。长期生存 114例 ,平均随访时间为 12 8年。生存 10年以上者 89例 ( 78% ) ;15年以上 5 8例( 5 1% ) ;2 0年以上 5 5例 ( 48% )。晚期死亡 16例 ,死亡的主要原因为心力衰竭、抗凝有关的并发症、血栓栓塞 ,以及风湿热复发。患者术后 10年、2 0年生存率分别为 82 3%和 5 1 1%。抗凝过量出血与血栓栓塞并发症的发生率分别为 0 83%病人·年与 0 4 1%病人·年。生存 2 0年以上的 5 5例患者 ,心功能恢复Ⅰ级者 37例、Ⅱ级 13例、Ⅲ级 6例。　结论     

Long-term results of valve replacement in the right side of the heart in congenital heart disease--comparative study of bioprosthetic valve and mechanical valve

Valve replacements in the right side of the heart (TVR and PVR) were done on 16 patients with congenital heart disease, mainly tetralogy of Fallot and Ebstein anomaly. Including reoperations, 19 operations were performed on them and 20 artificial valves were inserted. Ten mechanical valves (7 St. Jude Medical valves, 3 Starr-Edwards valves) and 10 bioprosthetic valves (7 Carpentier-Edwards valves, 3 Ionescu-Shiley valves) were used. Age at valve replacement ranged from 9 to 52 years (mean 23.0 years), and the follow-up period was 1.28-19.8 years (mean 5.7 years). Including 2 sudden deaths, late death occurred in 4 patients, on all of whom mechanical valve replacements were done at the primary operation. Five-year survival rate of all patients was 76.4 +/- 12.1%, and 10-year survival rate was 63.6 +/- 15.4%. All the patients who received bioprosthesis at the primary operation survived at the time of this follow-up study. On the contrary, long-term results of mechanical valve was unsatisfactory with the 5-year survival of 62.5 +/- 17.1%. In spite of anti-coagulation therapy with warfarin, three patients with mechanical valve complicated thrombotic valves, which necessitated re-operations. Calcified bioprosthetic valve occurred in one patient with I-S valve 8.5 years after the implantation. Five-year complication-free rate was 87.5 +/- 11.7% for bioprosthesis, whereas it was 50.0 +/- 15.8% for mechanical valve (p less than 0.056). It is concluded that the bioprosthesis is the first choice for the valve replacement in the right side of the heart in congenital heart disease.     

Long-term performance of prostheses in mitral valve replacement

The long-term performance of prostheses in mitral valve replacement (MVR) is now available with representatives of current generation prostheses to 15 years. Mechanical prostheses have been implanted for 33 years and bioprostheses for 22 years. The predominant complication of mechanical prostheses is hemorrhage from anticoagulation and reoperation for late structural valve deterioration of bioprostheses. Mitral valve (MV) reconstruction, over MVR, is recommended whenever possible, especially with the advancement of atrial fibrillation ablation techniques. The current indications for MVR are those valvular lesions that are unlikely to be repaired by most surgeons or which long-term results are suboptimal with reconstruction. Reconstruction is more common for degenerative disease, replacement for rheumatic disease and variable for advanced ischemic and infective disease. The recommendations for MVR for mitral stenosis (MS) are moderate to severe MS with advanced functional status and severe pulmonary hypertension when percutaneous balloon valvotomy or mitral reconstruction is not feasible. MVR is recommended in non-ischemic severe mitral regurgitation (MR) and for non-reparable acute symptomatic MR, advanced symptomatic status, systolic dysfunction and/or ventricular dysfunction. The recommendations for MV surgery in ischemic MR are acute post-infarction MR with cardiogenic shock, unstable angina with persistent moderate-severe and severe MR and chronic, dilated ischemic cardiomyopathy with moderate-severe and severe MR.     

Long-term clinical results after aortic valve replacement with mechanical heart valves and mitral valve replacement with porcine valves]

Long-term clinical results of aortic valve replacement (AVR) with mechanical heart valves and mitral valve replacement (MVR) with porcine valves were analysed. Sixty-three patients received isolated AVR and 48 received isolated MVR. Sixty-eight patients with MVR including double or triple valve replacement were also added in order to evaluate the primary tissue failure (PTF). The patients with operative deaths were excluded. Survival rate at 11 years in AVR was 68 +/- 10% and 67 +/- 15% in MVR without statistical difference. At 11 years, 76 +/- 8% of the patients in AVR were free from valve-related complications in contrast with the poor result of 34 +/- 31% in MVR (p less than 0.01). Main cause of this poor result in MVR was PTF as indicated in following event free rates; 83 +/- 9% at 7 years, 61 +/- 25% at 10 years and 49 +/- 31% at 13 years. There was no statistical difference between patients of above 50 years and below 49 years in PTF. Valve-related death event free was 93 +/- 5% in AVR and 86 +/- 11% in MVR at 11 years (not significant), however, there was statistical difference in re-operation event free rate as 94 +/- 5% in AVR and 76 +/- 11% in MVR at 11 years (p less than 0.001). These results suggest that the use of porcine valves in mitral position is confined to the selected patients.