Minimally invasive cardiac surgeries are the trend in the future. Among them, robotic cardiac surgery is the latest iteration with several key-hole incision, 3-dimentional visualization, and articulated instrumentation of 7 degree of ergonomic freedom for those complex procedures in the heart. In particular, robotic mitral valve surgery, as well as coronary artery bypass grafting, has evolved over the last decade and become the preferred method at certain specialized centers worldwide because of excellent results. Other cardiac procedures are in various stages of evolution. Stepwise innovation of robotic technology will continue to make robotic operations simpler, more efficient, and less invasive, which will encourage more surgeons to take up this technology and extend the benefits of robotic surgery to a larger patient population.
Atrial functional mitral regurgitation has been referred to patients with atrial fibrillation related functional mitral regurgitation without left ventricular dysfunction and it has nowadays received remarked attention in structural heart disease field. Significant dilation of mitral annulus and left atrium, insufficient leaflet remodeling, iatrogenic leaflet tethering, reduced annular contractility and increased valve stress by flattened saddle shape of the annulus might be important triggers of atrial functional mitral regurgitation. Recently, several studies indicated that transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair could be an effective strategy for atrial functional mitral regurgitation. In this review, the definition, mechanism together with efficacy and safety of transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair in atrial functional mitral regurgitation are discussed.
For mitral valve disease with mitral annular calcification (MAC), surgery remains challenging. Up to now, there is no ideal management strategy or patient selection standard, and perioperative and periprocedural morbidity and mortality rates remain high. The recent surge of patients presenting with MAC has been accompanied by increased interest in MAC surgery and interventions. The American Association for Thoracic Surgery Clinical Practice Standards Committee is meant to provide a simplified outline for managing MAC. Combined with progress of MAC therapy, a detailed interpretation of the 2025 expert consensus is provided which include patient selection, preoperative evaluation (especially imaging evaluation), indications of intervention, surgical and transcatheter therapeutic options, and postoperative complications and remedial measures.
Objective To investigate surgical treatment and evaluate the curative effect in patients with moderate to severe ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR). Methods The clinical data of the patients with coronary heart disease complicated with moderate to severe IMR who agreed to receive surgical treatment from June 2014 to June 2019 in our hospital were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups: a coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) group and a CABG+mitral valve surgery (MVS) group. The preoperative and postoperative clinical data between the two groups were compared. Results Finally 105 patients were collected, including 75 males and 30 females, aged 40-79 (62.70±7.90) years. There were 34 patients in the CABG group, and 71 patients in the CABG+MVS group including 2 patients of mitral valvuloplasty and 29 patients of mitral valve replacement. Among the 105 patients, 5 died during the perioperative period and 2 died in 3 months after operation, all of whom were from the CABG+MVS group. There was no statistical difference in perioperative and postoperative 3-month mortality rate between the two groups (P=0.14). Eighty-seven patients were followed up in the medium and long term. There was no statistical difference in the degree of preoperative mitral insufficiency (MI) (P=0.59) and left atrium diameter (P=0.51) between the two groups, but the degree of postoperative MI in the CABG group was significantly higher than that in the CABG+MVS group (P<0.01). However, the left atrium diameter in the CABG group was significantly smaller than that in the CABG+MVS group (P<0.01). Paired analysis showed that systolic pulmonary artery pressure, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular end-systolic diameter, left ventricular ejection fraction and MI were significantly improved after operation (P<0.01); left atrium diameter was significantly improved after operation in the CABG group (P<0.01), but there was no statistical difference before and after operation in the CABG+MVS group (P=0.10). Conclusion For patients with moderate to severe IMR, CABG with mitral valve treatment can improve left ventricular remodeling, but can not significantly improve left atrial remodeling. Whether performing mitral valve treatment during CABG should be cautious. CABG alone is a safe and effective scheme for elderly patients with poor physical condition and low life expectancy.
Objective To compare the clinical outcomes and safety of minimally invasive and routine mitral valve repair or replacement for patients with single mitral valve disease. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 67 patients with single mitral valve disease （without aortic valve and tricuspid valve lesion or other heart diseases including atrial septal defect） who underwent mitral valve repair or replacement in the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University between January and July 2011. The patients were divided into two groups according to different surgical approaches：the minimally invasive surgery group （n=29，8 males and 21 females，age 51.4±9.4 years） underwent minimally invasive mitral valve repair or replacement via right mini-thoractomy；and the routine surgery group （n=38，11 males and 27 females，age 53.6±11.9 years） underwent mitral valve repair or replacement via middle sternotomy. In the minimally invasive surgery group，9 patients underwent mitral valve repair while the other 20 patients underwent mitral valve replacement. And no patient underwent transition to routine operation. In the routine surgery group，15 patients underwent mitral valve repair and 23 patients underwent mitral valve replacement. Clinical outcomes and safety of the operations were compared between the two groups. Results There was no statistical difference in operation time between the two groups （207.9±18.1 min versus 198.4±27.5 min，P=0.076）. The amount of postoperative drainage （126.7±34.5 ml versus 435.6±87.2 ml，P=0.000） and blood transfusion （red blood cell 1.4±0.8 U versus 2.3±1.1 U，P=0.000；blood plasma 164.3±50.4 ml versus 405.6±68.9 ml，P=0.000） of the minimally invasive surgery group were significantly lower than those of the routine surgery group. The cardiopulmonary bypass time （81.7±23.9 min versus 58.7±13.6 min，P=0.000） and aortic-clamping time （51.6±12.7 min versus 38.4±11.7 min，P=0.000） of the minimally invasive surgery group were significantly longer than those of the routine surgery group. The length of ICU stay （22.5±3.6 h versus 31.7±8.5 h，P=0.000），mechanical ventilation （7.4±3.2 h versus 11.2±5.1 h，P=0.000） and postoperative hospitalization （7.1±1.6 d versus 13.5±2.4 d，P=0.000） of the minimally invasive surgery group were significantly shorter than those of the routine surgery group. There was no statistical difference in postoperative complications between the two groups. Minimally invasive surgery group patients were followed up for 5.3±2.4 months with a follow-up rate of 72.4%（21/29）. Routine surgery group patients were followed up for 5.5±3.8 months with a follow-up rate of 71.0%（27/38）. There was no significant complication during follow-up in both two groups. Conclusion Minimally invasive mitral valve operation via right mini-thoracotomy is effective and safe with a good cosmetic result. Compared with routine operation，patients undergoing minimally invasive operation recover better and faster.
Objective To evaluate the relationship between pattern of left ventricular dilation and functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) by echocardiography. Methods A single-center retrospective observational study was conducted on 117 patients with age of 31-77 years and left ventricular end diastolic dimension≥60 mm treated in our hospital from January 2013 through May 2016. These patients were divided into four groups by FMR degree: FMR-None/Trace (FMR-N/T group,n=33), FMR-Minor (FMR-Mi group,n=37), FMR-Moderate (FMR-Mo group,n=34) and FMR-Severe (FMR-Se group,n=13). We analyzed their basic information and echocardiographic parameters including left ventricular dimension, volume, systolic function, spherical index, regional wall motion score index, tenting height and area of mitral vavle as well as anterior/posterior angle. Results The incidences of inferior/posterior/lateral myocardial infarction and basal myocardial dyskinesia/aneurysm increased with the increase of FMR degree (FMR-N/T vs. FMR-Mi vs. FMR-Mo vs. FMR-Se: 12.1% vs. 18.9% vs. 44.1% vs. 46.2%,P=0.001 and 12.1% vs. 27.0% vs.47.1% vs. 53.8%,P=0.005, respectively). The tenting height and area of mitral valve, anterior/posterior angle, regional wall score index of the left ventricle where the papillary muscle was attached to had a positive correlation with FMR degree (P＜0.05). Conclusion There is a relationship between regional left ventricular dilation and FMR. Evaluating and improving those parameters is very important when we choose the treatment strategy of functional mitral regurgitaion.
Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the most common type of valvular heart disease. Mitral valve repair/replacement can improve the prognosis of patients with severe MR, but a large proportion of patients cannot tolerate surgical procedures due to comorbidities and surgical risks. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is a kind of treatment for mitral valve disease in which an artificial valve is delivered to the mitral valve annulus through a catheter and released into place, with the advantages of no thorax opening, less trauma and high safety. Early clinical studies of TMVR have shown good results, but still face many challenges. Strict indications are effective measures to reduce surgical risks and postoperative complications. This article explores the relevant indications of TMVR by analyzing several studies at home and abroad.
Ischemic mitral regurgitation represents a common complication after myocardial infarction, the severity of the mitral regurgitation increases the risk of mortality. There is continuing debate regarding the management of moderate ischemic mitral regurgitation in patients undergoing surgical management. The debates lie in whether adding mitral valve surgery to coronary artery bypass grafting. So the review is about the analysis of existing evidence and expectation about it.
ObjectiveTo investigate the risk or protective factors for systemic embolism (SE) in patients undergoing bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement (MVR). Methods Between October 2002 and March 2013, a total of 146 patients underwent bioprosthetic MVR. There were 78 females and 68 males with mean age of 66.23±5.17 years. The primary reason of mitral valve disease was mitral valve degeneration or mitral valve leaflet prolapse in 40 patients, rheumatic heart valve disease in 101 patients, ischemic heart disease in 3 patients, infectious endocarditis in 1 patient, and mechanical peri-valvular leak in 1 patient. All patients were given anticoagulation therapy with warfarin for 3 months. Thereafter, antithrombotic medication was prescribed according to the surgeon's preference. The patients were followed up by telephone or mail for postoperative condition and SE events. ResultsSixteen (10.96%) patients developed SE events, including cerebral infarction in 13 cases, transient ischemic attack (TIA) in 2 cases and spleen infarction in 1 case. A total of 16 patients died during follow-up. The 1-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year cumulative survival rate after surgery was 95.2%, 93.6%, 92.5% and 88.3% respectively. Patients with SE events had lower rate of left atrial appendage obliteration than those without SE events (25.0% vs. 78.6%, P=0.015). Multivariate analysis showed that left atrial appendage obliteration was an independent protective factor for SE in patients undergoing bioprosthetic MVR (P=0.041). ConclusionLeft atrial appendage obliteration is a major protective factor for systemic embolism in patients undergoing bioprosthetic MVR no matter what antithrombotic medication is taken.
This article reports a case of transjugular transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR) for persistent severe tricuspid regurgitation after transcatheter mitral valve replacement. The patient was an 80 year old female who underwent transcatheter mitral valve replacement at the Department of Cardiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, two months before admission. After the surgery, her condition worsened due to unimproved tricuspid regurgitation and right heart failure. After admission, the patient underwent transjugular TTVR under general anesthesia. With the assistance of cardiac ultrasound and X-ray fluoroscopy, an artificial valve was successfully implanted, and tricuspid regurgitation was relieved. The patient’s surgery went smoothly, and the condition improved significantly 25 days after surgery. The patient was discharged 34 days after surgery.