Mitral valve insufficiency: suspension of the posterior leaflet to the mitral annuloplasty ring.

Mitral valve insufficiency in rheumatic heart disease is often due to retracted posterior chordae and posterior leaflet thickening. Several surgical repair techniques have been described, but sometimes an acceptable coaptation of the mitral leaflets can not be achieved. Rather than accept a mitral regurgitation or resort to a mitral valve replacement, particularly in children, we have added a suspension of the posterior leaflet directly to the annuloplasty ring.

Right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction: what conduit to use? Homograft or Contegra?

Background: Both cryopreserved homografts and glutaraldehyde fixed bovine jugular vein grafts (Contegra) are used as conduits for right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) reconstructions in children. Both types of conduits have their pros and cons vividly described in the literature, but so far only a few comparative studies have been presented.

Methods: Between 1993 and 2005, 88 aortic homografts (54 blood-group compatible, iso, and 34 nonblood-group compatible, non-iso) and 50 Contegra conduits were implanted for RVOT reconstruction.

Coarctation of the aorta: pre and postoperative evaluation with MRI and MR angiography; correlation with echocardiography and surgery.

Aims: To compare MRI and MRA with Doppler-echocardiography (DE) in native and postoperative aortic coarctation, define the best MR protocol for its evaluation, compare MR with surgical findings in native coarctation.

Materials And Methods: 136 MR studies were performed in 121 patients divided in two groups: Group I, 55 preoperative; group II, 81 postoperative. In group I, all had DE and surgery was performed in 35 cases.