Abstract

 

Left ventricular function was compared in 10 patients who had conventional mitral valve replacement (group 1) and 7 patients who had replacement with preservation of posterior leaflet (group 2) for isolated chronic mitral regurgitation. Left ventricular function was assessed by doppler echocardiography. The two groups were similar in term of age, valve pathology, pulmonary artery pressure, aortic occlusion time, and surgical procedure. All the patients had mitral valve replacement with a bileaflet prosthesis in the supra- annular position. Left ventricular function was assessed one month before and 7-10 days after the operation. Left ventricular ejection fraction decreased from 65.10±8.01 to 56.50±7.52 in group 1 (p