Techniques for management of the calcified mitral annulus.

Mitral annulus calcification is most often associated with myxomatous degeneration of the mitral valve. It is characterized by a horseshoe-shaped area of mitral annulus calcification that extends into the ventricular cavity to varying degrees. Standard suture techniques may be associated with fracture of the calcification and subsequent paravalvular leak. Seventeen patients aged 54 to 85 (mean 68.1) had mitral valve replacement using four techniques: suture through calcified annulus (3); decalcification (6); onlay patch (5); and drill technique (3). There were no hospital deaths, and one 81-year-old patient with associated coronary artery disease and ascending aortic calcification succumbed to a cerebrovascular accident three months postoperatively. The remaining patients are living and active with functional improvement. Follow-up has ranged from seven months to seven years with a mean of 4.0 years. One patient has hemodynamically insignificant mitral regurgitation after use of an onlay patch technique. No one technique could be singled out as clearly advantageous over the others from this series of patients.