Clinical, hemodynamic, and angiographic predictors of operative mortality in patients undergoing single valve replacement. Veterans Administration Cooperative Study on Valvular Heart Disease

Preoperative characteristics of 964 patients in the Veterans Administration Cooperative Study on Valvular Heart Disease undergoing single valve replacement were examined to determine predictors of operative mortality. The operative mortality rate was 8.3% in 661 patients having isolated aortic valve disease and 7.5% in 239 patients having isolated mitral valve disease, but 12.5% in 64 patients with multivalve disease undergoing single valve replacement. For the aortic valve replacement subgroup, three-vessel coronary artery disease, left ventricular systolic pressure, prior cardiac operation, body surface area, and cardiac index were related to operative mortality. In the mitral valve replacement group, there was a strong association of operative mortality with advanced age, exertional dizziness, reduced cardiac index, left ventricular contraction grade, ST segment depression on the resting electrocardiogram, and pleural effusion. The risk of operative death for an individual patient undergoing aortic or mitral valve replacement may be estimated with the use of independent risk factors.