Mitral valve repair with loop technique via median sternotomy in 180 patients

OBJECTIVES: Artificial chordal reconstruction technique uses several expanded polytetrafluoroethylene loops to achieve mitral valve repair. METHODS: We studied retrospectively 180 patients who underwent mitral valve repair using the loop technique via median sternotomy: 86 for posterior leaflet prolapse, 48 for anterior leaflet prolapse and 26 for bileaflet prolapse. RESULTS: Of the 180 patients, 138 required 1 loop set; 40 patients required 2 and 2 patients with Barlow's disease required 3. Loop sets contained two to nine loops ranging in length from 14 to 26 mm. Additional techniques required to ensure complete repair using the loop technique included commissural edge-to-edge suture in 78 patients, loop-in-loop technique for extension of the artificial loop in 18 and use of needle-side sutures in 18. Systolic anterior leaflet motion was observed in only 2 patients (1.1%). One patient with immune deficiency died of sepsis. Predischarge echocardiograms showed no or trace mitral regurgitation (MR) in 160 patients (89%), mild MR in 17 patients (9.4)% and mild-to-moderate MR in 3 patients (1.7%). Only 1 patient required redo operation due to recurrent MR freedom from MR greater than moderate was seen in 98.0 +/- 1.4% of patients at 1 year, 91.5 +/- 2.8% of patients at 3 years, and 91.5 +/- 2.8% at 5 years post-operatively. No significant difference was seen in the rate of recurrence of MR among the sites of prolapsing leaflets. CONCLUSIONS: The loop technique via median sternotomy to treat posterior, anterior and, especially, bileaflet prolapse provided satisfactory mid-term outcomes.