USNews.com reports that using heart bypass operations as a remedy to fix even mild to moderate cases of leaky mitral valves is beneficial.
A new study discusses that while surgeons typically have repaired only severely leaking mitral valves during bypass operations, the procedure to repair the valves, which separate the upper and lower chambers of the heart and can become leaky if their flaps don’t fully close, perhaps shouldn’t be so limited.
The study analyzed patients with a functional ischemic mitral regurgitation. Researchers gave medical tests to 60 patients and randomly assigned them either to receive a bypass operation or receive both a bypass and have their moderately leaky mitral valves repaired. The researchers then tested the patients one year after the procedures.
Those who had the combined surgery had a threefold increase in exercise capacity and their hearts were an average of about 24% smaller and moving toward a normal size. This was compared with 10% in those who only had a bypass procedure. Blood tests also revealed that the hearts of patients who had both procedures appeared to be less strained.
Researchers found that fixing the leak possibly adds surgery time, as well as time on the bypass machine, which may affect rates of postoperative stroke, heart attack or death. These effects are still being carefully weighed and balanced against a longer-term improvement in functional capacity.
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