ObjectiveTo analyze clinical features and surgical strategies of Ebstein's anomaly (EA) in adults. MethodsSeventy-eight adult patients with EA underwent surgical treatment in Fu Wai Hospital from January 2008 to December 2011. There were 24 males and 54 females with their age of 18-54 (33.0±9.5) years. Preoperatively, 72 patients were in NYHA class Ⅰ or Ⅱ, and 6 patients were in NYHA class Ⅲ or Ⅳ. Clinical presentations mainly included exercise capacity deterioration and exertional dyspnea. Preoperative echocardiography showed downward displacement of the septal leaflet (SL) of the tricuspid valve (TV) of 34.8±12.7 (20-60) mm. Three patients had severe dysplasia or agenesis of tricuspid SL. Downward displacement of the posterior leaflet (PL) of TV was 46.8±11.6 (20-70) mm, and 1 patient had agenesis of tricuspid PL. Average TV annulus was significantly enlarged with 60±10 (37-70) mm. Mean atrialized portion of the right ventricle was about 40%. There were 18 patients with moderate tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and 60 patients with moderate-to-severe TR. Seventy-five patients received tricuspid valvuloplasty (TVP). Fifty-six patients received plication of the atrialized right ventricle (ARV), 20 patients received ARV resection, and 2 patients didn't receive any specific management of ARV. Thirty-two patients received TVP with a prosthetic ring. Three patients underwent tricuspid valve replacement. ResultsTwo patients died posto-peratively, and in-hospital mortality was 2.5%. Postoperative recovery of the survival patients was good. There was no severe atrioventricular block or other complication. Echocardiography before discharge showed good function of TV without moderate or more severe TR. Mean follow-up was 26 months. None of the patients needed re-operation. ConclusionThe incidence of acute heart failure in EA adults is low. TVP is the main surgical procedure to achieve main goals of surgical treatment including improvement in heart function, exercise capacity and quality of life.
ObjectiveTo investigate clinical outcomes of mitral valvuloplasty (MVP)for the treatment of infective endocarditis (IE)and mitral regurgitation (MR). MethodsFrom March 2002 to January 2012, 33 patients with IE and MR underwent MVP in Fu Wai Hospital. There were 23 male and 10 female patients with their age of 10-67 (35.7±17.8)years. Thirteen patients had previous cardiac anomalies. Preoperatively, there were 5 patients with mild MR, 15 patients with moderate MR and 13 patients with severe MR. There were 5 patients in New York Heart Association (NYHA)functional classⅠ, 23 patients in classⅡ, 4 patients in classⅢ and 1 patient in classⅣ. All the patients received MVP including 14 patients received MVP in active phase of IE. Concomitantly, 6 patients received aortic valve replacement, 5 patients received tricuspid valvuloplasty, 1 patient received coronary artery bypass grafting, 1 patient received resection of left atrial myxoma and 1 patient received repair of aortic sinus aneurysm. Surgical procedures included pericardial patch closure of leaflet perforation in 5 patients, leaflet excision and suturing in 17 patients, double-orifice method in 3 patients, chordae transfer and artificial chordae implantation in 5 patients, and annuloplastic ring implantation in 15 patients. ResultsOne patient died of acute myocardial infarction 7 days after the operation. All other 32 patients were successfully discharged. Echocardiography before discharge showed left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD, 48.9±7.6 mm)and left atrial diameter (LAD, 31.7±7.4 mm)were significantly smaller than preoperative values (P=0.000). Thirty-two patients were followed up for 6-125 (73.0±38.6)months. There was no death, IE recurrence, bleeding or thromboembolism during follow-up. One patient received mitral valve replacement for mitral stenosis 3 years after discharge. There were 25 patients in NYHA func-tional classⅠ, 5 patients in classⅡand 2 patients in classⅢ. There were 4 patients with mild MR, 1 patient with moderate MR, and 26 patients had no MR. One patient had faster mitral inflow at diastolic phase (1.7 m/s). One patient had moderate aortic regurgitation. LVEDD and LAD during follow-up were not statistically different from those before discharge. Left ventricular ejection fraction during follow-up was significantly higher than that before discharge (60.9%±6.6% vs. 57.5%±6.7%, P=0.043). ConclusionMVP is a reliable surgical procedure for patients with IE and MR, and can significantly reduce left atrial and left ventricular diameter and improve cardiac function postoperatively.
ObjectiveTo examine the cause of failure of mitral valve repair. MethodWe retrospectively anal-yzed the clinical data of 89 consecutive patients with non-rheumatic mitral valve diseases who underwent reoperation for failure of mitral valve repair in our hospital from January 2009 through January 2016. There were 54 males and 35 females at age of 36.2±17.4 years. ResultsThere were 16 patients with reoperation of mitral valve repairs and 73 patients of mitral valve replacements. The failure reasons of initial mitral valve repair were technique-related in 63 patients (70.8%) and valve-related in 18 patients (20.2%). Technique-related causes of repair failure included leaflet suture dehiscence (20 patients, 22.5%), edge-to-edge procedure (11 patients, 12.4%), leaflet thickening or retraction (11 patients, 12.4%), ring dehiscence (8 patients, 9.0%), inappropriate annuloplasty (6 patients, 6.7%), incomplete repair (4 patients, 4.5%), and chordal elongation or rupture (3 patients, 3.4%). Median interval since previous repair was 4.0 (0.04-18.0) years for the technique-related failure group, and 9.7 (0.21-35.6) years for valve-related failure group (P < 0.05). ConclusionTechnique-related factors are main causes of repair failure, which include leaflet suture dehiscence, edge-to-edge procedure, and leaflet thickening or retraction. Reoperation for technique-related failure needs to be adopted early.