Reductive annuloplasty with autopericardium in surgical treatment of mitral insufficiency

BACKGROUND: Despite the widespread usage of all-type rings in the surgical treatment of patients with mitral valve insufficiency (MV) and dilatation of its fibrous annulus, the researches on this topic are in progress. AIM: To study the short- and long-term results of narrowing annuloplasty of the MV utilizing an autopericardium strip of calculated length. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 21 patients (average age 60.9 4.3 years, women 23.8 %) with MV insufficiency of non-rheumatic ethiology. The narrowing of the fibrous annulus during valve reconstruction has been performed along with the posterior 2/3 of their circle using interrupted horizontal sutures. With those sutures, an autopericardial strip of the calculated length has been secured to the annulus. The length of the strip has been calculated according to the original method, according to the data obtained during preoperative transesophageal echocardiography. The length of the strip was 2/3 ∙ D (mm), where D the existing length of the anterior leaflet of the MV in the middle portion from the fibrous annulus to the free edge in the zone of the A2 segment. The control group consisted of 38 patients with non-rheumatic MV insufficiency (average age 59.1 3.5 years, women 23.7 %); the strengthening and narrowing of the fibrous annulus have been performed using a strip made from a wicker vascular prosthesis. The length was 55 mm, equal for all the patients. In both groups, in addition to the narrowing of the fibrous annulus, other types of mitral valve-sparing surgery (partial resection of MV leaflets, suture leaflets techniques, their combination) and combined procedures (coronary bypass surgery, left ventricle reconstructions for postinfarction aneurysms) have been also performed. RESULTS: In the studied groups, the safety and reliability of the performed restrictive MV annuloplasty procedures have been demonstrated. During the follow-up period up to 8 years (average 3.5 0.7 years), there was no recurrence of significant mitral regurgitation, which would require repeated surgery in both groups. Narrowing annuloplasty of the fibrous annulus of MV with a strip from the autopericardium of an individual calculated length allows to perform a more accurate anatomical correction of the valve compared with the control group. The existing methods of mitral annuloplasty, their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method of restrictive annuloplasty of the MV with an autopericardial strip of the calculated length allows to perform a reliable and safe correction of the dilated fibrous annulus in patients with mitral insufficiency during valve-preserving operations.