Introduction: Mitral insufficiency is a common valvular disease affecting 10% of the general population. The main treatment of the severe mitral regurgitation is surgical. We have analyzed the impact of cardiac surgery on the left ventricular performance and morphology, in patients treated for severe mitral insufficiency accordingly to the type of intervention, ischemic time and type of cardioplegia.
Methods: Ninety patients diagnosed with isolated severe mitral insufficiency that benefited from mitral valvular replacement or mitral valvuloplasty were retrospectively enrolled. The left ventricle, the left atrium, the right ventricle diameters and the left ventricle ejection fraction were measured by two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography before and after surgery. The influence of the myocardial ischemia time and the type of cardioplegia administered on the ventricular systolic function were also analyzed.
Results: Regardless the surgical technique chosen, after surgery we noticed a decreased size of the left ventricle (preoperative mean 54.91mm ±8.18 vs postoperative mean 51.94mm±8.15, p=0.035), right ventricle (preoperative mean 33.49mm±5,87 vs postoperative mean 32.41mm±6.03, p=0.0001), as well as the ejection fraction (preoperative mean 51.29%±8.51 vs postoperative mean 46.57%±8.71, p=0.0001).
Conclusions: Immediately after surgery, a decrease in the size of cardiac cavities as well as a decrease of the left ventricle ejection fraction is noticed.