A case of mitral regurgitation treated by combined superior transseptal approach and electrophysiological examination of the sinus node function

: A 67-year-old man with mitral regurgitation underwent mitral valvoplasty and annuloplasty successfully. Combined superior transseptal approach was adopted to expose the mitral valve, because the left atrium was small. The exposure of the mitral valve was excellent. But this approach cannot avoid damaging the sinus node artery, so that why the sinus node function was examined electrophysiologically before and after the operation. Sino-atrial conduction time (SACT) and corrected sinus node recovery time (CSRT) were measured as the indices of the sinus node function. Both SNCT and CSRT after the operation was within normal range. As far as this case, combined superior transseptal approach, which gave good exposure of the mitral valve but needed to cut the sinus node artery, did not deteriorate the sinus node function.