[Surgery of mitral valve insufficiency. Results of 10 years].

From 1987 to 1996 we operated on 263 patients for mitral insufficiency. Multiple valve operations were excluded, with the exception of tricuspid reconstruction for functional regurgitation. The perioperative mortality was 3%, while the late mortality rate during a mean follow-up period of 3.5 years amounted to 2% per patient year and 1.7% if only cardiac causes were considered. The prognosis for patients with rheumatic, endocarditic and ischemic valvular disease was much worse compared to that for a degenerative cause. The latter group consisted of 209 patients with an operative mortality of 1.4% and a late mortality rate per patient year of 1.4% and 0.9% for cardiac causes only. Further analysis showed a significant prognostic improvement for patients with a preoperative ejection fraction of more than 60% and a repairable valve.