Early results after mitral valvuloplasty for pure mitral regurgitation.

In this study we present the results of 105 consecutive patients with pure mitral regurgitation who underwent surgical treatment. In all patients mitral regurgitation was associated with mitral valve prolapse: 54 patients underwent mitral valvuloplasty and 51 patients mitral valve replacement. Clinical assessment and echocardiography were used as follow-up criteria at one year after surgery. After mitral valvuloplasty, NYHA decreased from 2.7 +/- 0.8 to 1.1 +/- 0.7 (P less than 0.01) and workload capacity increased from 65 +/- 28% to 96 +/- 25% (P less than 0.001); left endsystolic atrial dimension and enddiastolic dimension decreased from 6.2 +/- 0.8 to 4.8 +/- 1.2 cm (P less than 0.001) and from 7.2 +/- 1.3 to 5.9 +/- 0.8 cm (P less than 0.01); ventricular contraction fraction did not change significantly. After mitral valve replacement, clinical and echocardiographic improvement was significant but less remarkable than after valvuloplasty; ventricular contraction fraction fell from 39 +/- 7% to 29 +/- 8% in contrast to patients undergoing mitral valvuloplasty in whom no significant change occurred. Complications were rare in both groups though only a minority of patients undergoing mitral valvuloplasty received anticoagulants. We conclude that mitral valvuloplasty in patients with pure mitral regurgitation when compared with the patients after mitral valve replacement.