title: Mitral valve prosthesis choice for patients aged 65 years and over in the UK. Are the guidelines being followed and does it matter?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Current guidelines recommend that most patients aged ≥65 years should undergo mitral valve replacement (MVR) using a biological prosthesis. The objectives of this study were to assess whether these guidelines are being followed in UK practice, and to investigate whether the guidelines are appropriate based on in-hospital mortality and mid-term survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Adult Cardiac Surgery Audit database from all National Health Service (NHS) hospitals and some private hospitals performing adult cardiac surgery in the UK between April 2001 and March 2011 were analysed. The overall cohort included 3862 patients aged ≥65 years who underwent first-time MVR. Propensity score matching and regression adjustment were used to compare outcomes between prosthesis groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age was 73.0 years (SD 4.9) with 50% of patients having surgery with a mechanical prosthesis. This proportion decreased over the study period and with increasing patient age with marked variation between hospitals. In the propensity-matched cohort, in-hospital mortality in the biological group was 6.9%, and in the mechanical group it was 5.9% giving an unadjusted OR of 1.17 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.63). There was no significant difference in mid-term survival between the matched groups with an unadjusted HR for biological prosthesis of 1.08 (95% CI 0.93 to 1.24). Similar results were found when using regression adjustment on unmatched data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current guidelines concerning age and mitral valve prosthesis choice are not being followed for patients aged ≥65 years. With regards to in-hospital and mid-term mortality, this study demonstrates that there is no difference between prosthesis types.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, University Hospital of South Manchester, , Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dimarakis
authors.forename: Stuart W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Graeme L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Hickey
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Livesey
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moat
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bridgewater
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology