High Mitral Annulus Calcium Score in Pre-Operative Chest Computerized Tomography and Adverse Outcomes in Mitral Valve Surgery.

Background: Severe mitral annulus calcification (MAC) is believed to bear high operative and post-operative risk during mitral valve replacement (MVR) surgery, including longer surgery time, post-surgical valvular leaks and increased rate of embolic phenomena. We hypothesized that quantification of mitral calcium in pre-operative chest computerized tomography (CCT), performed to assess aortic root before cross-clamping may help in risk assessment of adverse intraoperative and postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing MVR.

Methods: We included patients who underwent MVR between the years 2015 and 2018 at Poriya medical center.