Comparison of outcomes of minimally invasive mitral valve surgery for posterior, anterior and bileaflet prolapse

Objective: We sought to compare the outcomes of minimally invasive mitral valve (MV) surgery for anterior (anterior mitral leaflet, AML), posterior (posterior mitral leaflet, PML) or bileaflet (BL) MV prolapse. Methods: Between August 1999 and December 2007, 1230 patients who presented with isolated AML (n = 156, 12.7%), isolated PML (n = 672, 54.6%) or BL (n = 402, 32.7%) MV prolapse underwent minimally invasive MV surgery. The preoperative mitral regurgitation (MR) grade was 3.3 ± 0.8, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 62 ± 12% and mean age was 58.9 ± 13.0 years; 836 patients (68.0%) were male. Mean follow-up time was 2.7 ± 2.1 years, and the follow-up was 100% complete. Results: Overall, the MV repair rate was 94.0% (1156 patients). Seventy-four patients (6.0%) received MV replacement. MV repair for PML prolapse was accomplished in 651 patients (96.9%), for AML in 142 patients (91%) and for BL in 363 patients (90.3%). Repair techniques consisted predominantly of leaflet resection and/or implantation of neochordae, combined with ring annuloplasty. Concomitant procedures were tricuspid valve surgery (n = 56), atrial fibrillation ablation (n = 286) and closure of an atrial septal defect or patent foramen ovale (PFO) (n = 89). The overall duration of cardiopulmonary bypass was 127 ± 40 min and aortic cross-clamp time was 78 ± 33 min. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 11.6 ± 9.7 days for the overall group. Early echocardiographic follow-up revealed excellent valve function in the vast majority of patients, regardless of the repair technique, with a mean MR grade of 0.3 ± 0.5. For the overall group, 5-year survival rate was 87.3% (95% CI: 83.9–90.1) and 5-year freedom from cardiac reoperation rate was 95.6% (95% CI: 94.1–96.7). The log-rank test revealed no significant difference between the three groups regarding long-term survival or freedom from reoperation. Conclusions: Minimally invasive MV repair can be achieved with excellent results. Long-term outcomes and reoperation rates for AML prolapse are not significantly different from PML or BL prolapse.