• Takashi Murashita, Yukikatsu Okada, Hideo Kanemitsu, Naoto Fukunaga, Yasunobu Konishi, Ken Nakamura, and Tadaaki Koyama.
• Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
• Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2014 Jan 1; 20 (6): 1001-7.

PurposeThe number of elderly patients who require surgical treatment for mitral regurgitation (MR) is increasing. However, the feasibility and efficacy of mitral valve repair in elderly patients are unclear.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 55 patients, aged ≥75 years, who underwent mitral valve repair for degenerative MR between 1991 and 2011. All patients were followed up for 4.7 ± 3.4 years.ResultsThe patients aged ≥75 years were more symptomatic and had a higher incidence of persistent atrial fibrillation and pulmonary hypertension than those aged <75 years. Thirty-day and in-hospital mortality was 1.8% and 7.3%, respectively, and the 5-year survival rate was 81.6% ± 5.8%. The leading cause of late death was stroke, which primarily occurred in patients with postoperative atrial fibrillation. Except for a single failure of repair due to technical reasons, there was no recurrence of severe MR or reoperation on the mitral valve. In the late follow-up period, the mean left ventricular diastolic diameter significantly decreased and the mean left ventricular ejection fraction was approximately 60%. Most patients had mild symptoms at follow-up.ConclusionMitral valve repair can provide satisfactory early as well as long-term outcomes and can preserve left ventricular function even in the elderly.

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