Long-term outcome of mitral valve repair for infective endocarditis.
BACKGROUND
In patients with mitral endocarditis, reconstruction of the damaged mitral valve (MV) is still challenging, and its durability remains unknown. We evaluated the long-term outcomes of MV repair for mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with infective endocarditis.


METHODS
From 1991 to 2006, 633 patients had MV repair for MR caused by leaflet prolapse: 78 had endocarditis (active in 14, healed in 64) and 555 had degenerative disease. Durability was assessed by reoperation and recurrent MR.


RESULTS
The overall hospital mortality rate was 1.0% (endocarditis 0% vs degenerative 1.1%; p = 0.99). The 10-year survival and freedom from reoperation were 91.1 +/- 1.6% and 92.2 +/- 1.7%, respectively, with no differences between endocarditis and degenerative disease. Older age, New York Heart Association class III or IV, impaired ventricular function, and no use of annuloplasty were independent predictors of all-cause death. Freedom from moderate or severe MR was 99.8 +/- 0.2% at 2 weeks, 91.9 +/- 1.5% at 5 years, and 83.3 +/- 2.3% at 10 years, for all patients and did not differ between groups at 10 years (p = 0.388). Anterior leaflet prolapse, preoperative atrial fibrillation, and no annuloplasty were independent predictors of recurrent MR. In endocarditis patients, recurrent MR was mainly caused by leaflet thickening and calcification, but not by recurrence of endocarditis.


CONCLUSIONS
MV repair for endocarditis is associated with low operative mortality and morbidity, and its long-term durability is comparable with that of repair for degenerative disease. This study suggests that a degenerative process causes late failure after MV repair for endocarditis.
Shimokawa
Tomoki
T
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Sakakibara Heart Institute, Tokyo, Japan. tshimokawa-circ@umin.ac.jp
Kasegawa
Hitoshi
H
Matsuyama
Shigefumi
S
Seki
Hiroshi
H
Manabe
Susumu
S
Fukui
Toshihiro
T
Morita
Satoshi
S
Takanashi
Shuichiro
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002815:Chordae Tendineae / Q000601:surgery; D004696:Endocarditis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D008945:Mitral Valve Prolapse / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D010496:Pericardium / Q000637:transplantation; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality*; D012307:Risk Factors