Perioperative outcomes
The early surgical results and pre-discharge echocardiographic data are
shown in Table 3. All patients were discharged on foot. No patients
developed complications such as stroke, wound infection, re-exploration
for bleeding, or respiratory failure. No patients required a second run
of cardiopulmonary bypass because of residual regurgitation. The mean
operative time was 282 ± 82 minutes, the mean cardiopulmonary bypass
time was 167 ± 49 minutes, and the mean cross-clamp time was 141 ± 42
minutes. All patients had an uneventful postoperative course and were
discharged to home 35 ± 5 days after the surgery with completion of
intravenous antibiotic therapy. Pre-discharge echocardiography revealed
no or trivial mitral regurgitation in all patients. No patients showed
systolic anterior movement of the anterior leaflet. In all patients,
postoperative left ventricular function was favorable (left ventricular
end-diastolic / systolic diameter, 45 ± 2 / 30 ± 2 mm; left ventricular
ejection fraction, 62% ± 6%).