Mitral Valve Repair and Replacement in Endocarditis: A Systematic Review of Literature

Cardiac complications of infective endocarditis

Cardiac complications caused by infective endocarditis (IE) are varied and frequently life-threatening. This article focuses on new data related to several complications, and summarizes the indications, timing, and type of valve surgery recommended in the management of IE. Several recent studies using propensity score techniques have resulted in disparate conclusions and underscore the need for randomized prospective studies to better address whether and when surgery should be performed in patients with IE. Mitral valve repair is an exciting new development in surgical methodology and probably will have increased application over the next two decades. Excellent reviews related to periannular abscesses, fistulae, acute coronary syndrome, and pericarditis have been published recently and are also summarized.

Active infective endocarditis after mitral valve repair

A 22-year-old man was diagnosed with active mitral endocarditis 14 months after mitral valve repair. The responsible organism was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis. Transthoracic echocardiography showed an 8-mm patch of vegetation adhering to the anterior part of the artificial ring. Although antibiotics (piperacillin, minocycline, imipenem/cilastatin, and ampicillin) were administered, the vegetation grew to 30 mm. Reoperation was performed 35 days after the diagnosis. Before surgery, there was mild mitral regurgitation without congestive heart failure. Re-repair was performed by removing the vegetation and the artificial ring, and mattress sutures repaired the circumferential sulcus formed by the artificial ring. Teicoplanin and minocycline were administered for 6 weeks. At 20 months, infective endocarditis was absent. Residual mitral regurgitation has been consistently mild. Although active mitral endocarditis after mitral valve repair is rare, prompt reoperation should be considered if the responsible organism is drug-resistant and infection spreads to the artificial ring.

Commissural autologous pericardial patch repair: a novel technique for active mitral valve endocarditis involving the mitral annulus

In patients with massive destruction caused by mitral endocarditis, surgical valve repair remains a challenging issue. Although several procedures have previously been introduced, no standard method for complicated lesions has been established. We describe a technique of mitral valve repair for extensive destructive endocarditis involving both leaflets and the mitral annulus that has provided satisfactory initial results in 2 patients. This procedure is believed to be technically simple and beneficial in terms of mitral repair for active endocarditis.

Replacement of A2 and A3 by pericardium due to endocarditis of the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve

We present a case of acute endocarditis due to enterococcus faecalis involving partially A2 and completely A3 (Carpentier classification) with destruction of the free margin of the mitral valve. Repair was performed by using glutaraldehyde treated porcine pericardium to replace the defect and neochordae of polytetrafluoroethylene sutured to the free margin of the pericardium to achieve competence. Intraoperative and follow-up echocardiogaphies showed no regurgitation.

[Conservative mitral valve surgery in the treatment of mitral regurgitation due to infective endocarditis. Report of 21 cases]

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the feasibility of mitral valve repair in patients with infective endocarditis (IE).

METHODS AND RESULTS

Forty-seven patients operated for mitral endocarditis between 1995 and 2005; 21 underwent mitral valve repair. The repair was performed for acute endocarditis in seven patients at a median of 14 days after the onset of treatment and 14 patients for healed endocarditis after a median of six months.

RESULTS

Mitral valve repair was feasible in 21 patients (45%). This repair involved mitral annuloplasty in 16 patients (76%), shortening or transposition of chordae in 10 patients (48%), a pericardial patch in five patients (24%), and suture of perforation in two patients (9%). Associated procedures were aortic valve replacement in seven patients and tricuspid annuloplasty in two. There were no operative deaths. The mean follow up was five years (one to 11). One patient was reoperated for severe mitral regurgitation and another had a stroke due to cerebrovascular embolism in the first postoperative years. No recurrence of infectious endocarditis occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

Mitral valve repair in IE gives satisfactory results in terms of survival and symptomatic improvement with a low operative risk. With antibiotic therapy, it provides a cure of mitral lesions even when carried out in the acute phase of endocarditis. Finally, it feasible in several cases with excellent results.