Preoperative determination of artificial chordae tendineae length by transoesophageal echocardiography in totally endoscopic mitral valve repair.

OBJECTIVES: Artificial chordae tendineae are widely used for surgical repair in patients with mitral regurgitation due to floppy mitral valve/mitral valve prolapse. Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene has been used to construct these artificial chordae; however, the determination of the optimal length of the chordae prior to surgery has been an issue. For this reason, such a method was developed and the results of its use are presented. METHODS: Forty-seven consecutive patients with significant mitral regurgitation due to floppy mitral valve/mitral valve prolapse who underwent totally endoscopic mitral valve surgery were studied. The chordae length was predetermined using transoesophageal echocardiography. The length between the top of the fibrous body of the papillary muscle and the coaptation line of the 2 leaflets of the mitral valve was measured and used to define the length of the chordae to be used for repair. Then under stereoscopic vision, a total endoscopic mitral valve repair was performed. RESULTS: The predicted mean length of chordal loops was 19.76 +/- 0.71 mm (median 20, range 16-28) and the actual mean length of chordal loops used was 19.68 +/- 0.74 mm (median 20, range 16-26) demonstrating an excellent correlation between the two (r = 0.959). The mean number of chordae loops used per patient was 5.12 +/- 0.62 (median 4, range 2-12). All patients at the time of discharge had no or trivial mitral regurgitation on transoesophageal echocardiography. CONCLUSIONS: The chordae length used for mitral valve repair can be determined prior to surgery using transoesophageal echocardiography with a high degree of accuracy. Further, total endoscopic repair in this group of patients provides excellent results. For these reasons, it is expected that this method will replace most traditional approaches to cardiac surgeries in the years to come.