[Preliminary echocardiographic evaluation on prosthetic valve replacement of preserving the subvalvular apparatus with artificial chorade for mitral stenosis].

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preliminary results after prosthetic valve replacement of preserving the subvalvular apparatus with artificial chorade for mitral stenosis. 20 patients had received operation with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene(e-PTFE) as artificial chordade. The patients were followed up by means of echocardiography. The time of follow-up study varied from 4 to 18 months with a mean of 6 months. The left atrial, ventricular dimension as well as ventricular function were assessed. In addition, the length of artificial chorade and obstruction of left ventricular outflow track were observed. The results showed that left atrial diameter (LAD, from 57.59 +/- 13.51 mm to 47.05 +/- 9.55 mm), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD, from 46.23 +/- 12.56 mm to 42.41 +/- 10.86 mm), left ventricular end-systolic dimension (LVESD, from 33.50 +/- 10.20 mm to 29.68 +/- 8.40 mm) decreased (P < 0.01), and ejection fraction (EF, from 52.59 +/- 11.89% to 58.36 +/- 8.03%) increased (P < 0.05) after operation. There were no significant changes of fractional shortening (FS, from 29.23 +/- 8.99% to 31.05 +/- 6.08%). The length of artificial chorade ranged from 2.6 cm to 4.3 cm (the mean, 3.2 cm). There was no case of obstruction of left ventricular outflow track. It is believed that the result of preliminary echocardiographic observation on prosthetic valve replacement of preserving the subvalvular apparatus with artificial chorade for mitral stenosis is satisfactory.