title: Long-term outcomes of mitral valve repair with the Duran flexible ring.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mitral annuloplasty is a reliable mitral valve repair technique. There are two types of annuloplasy rings: the rigid ring and the flexible ring. This study sought to examine the long-term results of mitral valve repair using a Duran flexible ring.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed 226 patients who underwent primary mitral valve repair using the Duran flexible ring for mitral regurgitation between September 1994 and March 2003. Patients' mean age was 56.7 years, and 39% were female. The mean follow-up was 10.6 years (0.04 ∼ 18.3), and echocardiographic follow-up was 83.3% complete.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were three early and 25 late deaths. Survival was 89.3 ± 2.2 for 10 years, and 83.5 ± 3.2% for 15 years. The 10- and 15-year freedom from reoperation on the mitral valve were 96.4 ± 1.4 and 95.3 ± 1.7%, respectively. The 10- and 15-year freedom from moderate or severe mitral regurgitation were 92.5 ± 2.2 and 73.7 ± 7.1%, respectively. Cox regression analysis revealed that age, male gender, and isolated anterior leaflet prolapse were predictive of recurrent moderate or severe mitral regurgitation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mitral valve repair for mitral regurgitation using a flexible Duran ring is safe and durable for more than 10 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kanemitsu
authors.forename: Yukikatsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakon
authors.forename: Yasunobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Konishi
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fukunaga
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saji
authors.forename: Tadaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koyama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058386:Mitral Valve Annuloplasty / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome