Mitral Valve Repair with Artificial Chordae for Posterior Leaflet Disease

Background: Recently, the concept of “Respect rather than resect” has been proposed in an attempt to restore mitral valve function. We investigated the results of mitral valve repair for posterior leaflet disease. Methods: Between April 2008 and July 2017, mitral valve repair was performed in 78 cases at our facility. Among them, 37 cases were analyzed. We divided patients into three groups according to the repair techniques used: artificial chordae technique, which uses the anchoring-technique and measured tube technique (Group A, 23 cases), resection and suture technique (Group R, 10 cases), and artificial chordae together with resection and suture technique (Group AR, 4 cases), and compared their postoperative outcomes. Results: Residual postoperative mitral regurgitation (MR) grade in groups A, R and AR at discharge were 0.3 ± 0.4, 0.8 ± 0.9 and 0.0 ± 0.0 (p = 0.07), respectively. Mitral valve areas (cm2) in groups A, R and AR were 3.2 ± 0.6, 2.9 ± 0.6 and 3.0 ± 0.6 (p = 0.47), respectively. Freedom from severe MR at 5 years postoperatively was seen in 91.7%, 90% and 100% (p = 0.92) in groups A, R and AR, respectively. Conclusions: There was no significant difference in postoperative outcomes, as assessed echocardiographically, between the artificial chordae technique and resection and suture technique. The results of all repair techniques were satisfactory.