Survival Prediction in Patients Undergoing Open-Heart Mitral Valve Operation After Previous Failed MitraClip Procedures.

Background: The objective of this study was to analyze the results of open heart mitral valve operations for survival prediction in patients with previously unsuccessful MitraClip procedures.

Methods: Thirty-three consecutive patients who underwent mitral valve surgery in our institution were studied. At a median of 41 days, they had previously undergone one to five futile MitraClip implantations. At the time of their operations, patients were 72.6 ± 10.3 years old, and the calculated risk, using the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) II, was a median of 26.5%. Individual outcomes were recorded, and all patients were monitored postoperatively.

Results: Thirty-day mortality was 9.1%, and the overall survival at 2.2 years was 60.6%. Seven cardiac-related and six noncardiac deaths occurred. Univariate survival regression models demonstrated a significant influence of the following variables on survival: EuroSCORE II (p = 0.0022), preoperative left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (p = 0.0052), left ventricular ejection fraction (p = 0.0249), coronary artery disease (p = 0.0385), and severe pulmonary hypertension (p = 0.0431). Survivors showed considerable improvements in their New York Heart Association class (p < 0.0001), left ventricular ejection fraction (p = 0.0080), grade of mitral regurgitation (p = 0.0350), and mitral valve area (p = 0.0486). Survival after mitral repair was not superior to survival after replacement.

Conclusions: Indications for surgery after failed MitraClip procedures must be considered with the greatest of care. Variables predicting postoperative survival should be taken into account regarding the difficult decision as to whether to operate or not. Our data suggest that replacement of the pretreated mitral valve is probably the more reasonable concept rather than complex repairs. When the EuroSCORE II at the time of surgery exceeds 30%, conservative therapy is advisable.