SURGICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF SIGNIFICANT ACUTE MITRALREGURGITATION FOLLOWING MITRAL VALVOTOMY

Repair of the mitral valve should be the primary goal in the surgical management of acute mitral regurgitation following valvotomy. The earl ier the repair is done, the better it is because the preoperative haem odynamics affect the overall outcome. The disadvantages and anticoagul ation of prosthetic valves are avoided. Besides, it is economical to a void the high cost of the prosthetic valves in a poor socio-economic g roup of patients. With good patient selection and additional effort by the surgeon to acquire the necessary expertise to reproduce the techn iques of mitral valve repair, a superior quality of life can be offere d to these patients. The present study is a retrospective analysis of 14 patients who required heart surgery following balloon or closed mit ral valvotomy. The valve was successfully repaired in 8 patients. The medium term follow-up indicates that repair is reproducible, safe, rel iable, and a stable procedure free of complications.