The course of pulmonary hypertension in patients operated for rheumatic mitral heart disease

Aim, To study changes in pulmonary hypertension in patients with isolated mitral valvular defects of rheumatic etiology after surgical correction and in the early postoperative period. Materials and methods. Central hemodynamics in heart chamber probing before operation and intraoperatively were measured in 98 patients with rheumatic mitral defects (41 males, 57 females, mean age 39.5+/-8.74). Manometry before and after the defect correction, intraoperative catheterization (cath. Swan-Ganz) for hemodynamics 24-h follow-up were made. Results. After valvular defect correction 90(91%) patients had residual pulmonary hypertension, stage II-III in 41%. Conclusion. Patients operated for rheumatic heart disease complicated by pulmonary hypertension often suffer from residual pulmonary hypertension. This requires pharmacological correction.