Cusp-level chordal shortening for rheumatic mitral regurgitation: early results.

From February of 1987 through February of 1991, 25 patients with rheumatic mitral disease underwent cusp-level shortening of the chordae of the anterior mitral leaflet as part of the valvular reconstruction procedure at our institutions. All patients had moderate or severe mitral regurgitation, with prolapse of the anterior mitral leaflet. Seventeen patients also had mitral stenosis. Postoperative echocardiograms, both transthoracic and transesophageal, showed correction of leaflet prolapse and mitral regurgitation. This preliminary report suggests that the technique satisfactorily corrects mitral regurgitation in patients with elongated and thickened chordae characteristic of rheumatic mitral disease.