title: Surgical technique for artificial mitral chordae implantation.
abstract: Failure of reconstructive procedures of the mitral valve is often ascribed to diffuse alteration of the subvalvular apparatus, which prevents the utilization of well-established techniques such as chordal transposition or shortening. For this reason, in 1986 after 2 years of animal experiments, we started the clinical use of expanded-polytetrafluoroethylene mitral chordae. Details of the surgical procedure are presented. Our experience is based on 51 patients with a mean follow-up of about 20 months (range 3-57). Four patients had the valve replaced during the same operation: one patient died later of cardiac failure and two underwent reoperation, 8 and 18 months after operation. Forty-one patients are in New York Heart Association Functional Class I and three in Class II. We suggest this technique in association with other traditional procedures to increase the number of mitral valves repaired, mostly because of degenerative etiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Treviso Regional Hospital, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zussa
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Polesel
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rocco
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galloni
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Frater
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valfrè
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002815:Chordae Tendineae / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000601:surgery*; D010210:Papillary Muscles / Q000601:surgery; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D012086:Reoperation; D013536:Suture Techniques
chemical_list: D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene