[Congenital mitral insufficiency. Diagnosis, prognosis and treatment].

Between September 1973 and November 1993, 30 children with CMI underwent open-heart surgery. The mean age at operation was 6.63 years with a range of 8 months to 14 years. Twenty patients underwent reconstructive mitral valvuloplasty; 3 immediate failures and 1 case of stenosis of Carpentier's ring, occurring 7 years after the operation, were observed in this group. Among the 10 patients treated by mitral valve replacement, there were 4 deaths, including 3 from specific complications of the prosthesis. Conservative mitral surgery provides better results with far fewer complications that mechanical prostheses and must therefore always be attempted as the first-line procedure.