Changes in preoperative and 3-6 month postoperative transthoracic echo parameters in patients undergoing mitral valve replacement

Introduction: Of all the open heart surgeries, heart valve surgery is ranked second by frequency after coronary bypass surgery. The most important goal in mitral valve surgery is to preserve left ventricular functions by preventing left ventricular dilation (especially in mitral regurgitation). Echocardiography plays an important role in preoperative diagnosis and postoperative evaluation of patients undergoing mitral valve replacement procedure. This study was carried out in order to determine how left ventricular end-systolic and end-diastolic diameters, left atrial diameters, interventricular septum thickness, tricuspid insufficiency, pulmonary arter pressures in the preoperative period were affected during the 3-6 month postoperative period. Material:Into the study, we included 52 patients undergoing mitral valve replacement. Those 52 patients were evaluated retrospectively Results:Diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension (HT), smoking, gender and age were evaluated as demographic parameters. In our patients undergoing mitral valve replacement procedure, we statistically compared the preoperative and postoperative parameters with regard to left ventricular end-systolic diameters, left ventricular end-diastolic diameters, left atrium diameter, interventricular septum thickness, tricuspid insufficiency,pulmonary artery pressures and ejection fraction. Conclusion:Through mitral valve replacement procedure, the goal is to ensure preservation and improvement in left ventricular systolic functions. In our studycarried out on 52 patients undergoing mitral valve replacement surgery, statistically a significant relationship was determined to exist between preoperative and postoperative changes in ejection fraction, left atrium diameter, pulmonary artery pressure and tricuspid regurgitation. As it is shown in the study, postoperative improvements in some echo parameters ensured improvement and preservation in left ventricular systolic functions. Key words: Mitral Valve, Preoperative, Postoperative, Transthoracic, Echo