Abstract 15556: Clinical Outcomes After Routine Cox-MAZE IV and Appendectomy and Aggressive Left Atrial Plication Added to Mitral Valve Repair for Atrial Functional Mitral Regurgitation

Abstract

Introduction: Atrial functional mitral regurgitation (AFMR) is one of the significant factors to worsen the outcomes in heart failure. The optimal therapy for AFMR is still controversial. Previous studies reported AFMR patients underwent mitral valve repair alone frequently had heart failure re-hospitalization or stroke after surgery. New guidelines recommend adding surgical ablation as a concomitant procedure for class I indications. However, many surgeons avoid concomitant procedure especially in patients with extremely enlarged left atrium (LA) and long atrial fibrillation (AF) duration. Hypothesis: Routine strategy of adding surgical ablation and appendectomy and aggressive LA plication to mitral valve repair might improve the outcomes with keeping sinus rhythm and without stroke events in AFMR patients. Methods and Results: We investigated 35 consecutive patients with severe AFMR who underwent surgery in our institute between 2014 and 2018. Our strategy was Cox-maze IV and appendectomy for all patients and if LA volume was more than 200 ml by echocardiography, we added LA plication. In addition to clinical data and conventional echocardiographic assessment (Table), left ventricular (LV) function was evaluated using 2D speckle tracking echocardiography. MR grade improved in all patients. Despite enlarged LA, 76% of patients regained sinus rhythm and atrial kick was detected by pulse doppler method (mean value: 55 ± 19 cm/s). After 2-year follow-up, LV global longitudinal strain and LA peak strain were significantly improved (Table). During 4.1 ± 1.3 years observation, no patient experienced heart failure re-hospitalization and stroke. Conclusions: Majority of AFMR patients had long duration of AF and severely enlarged LA. The routine Cox-maze IV, appendectomy and aggressive LA plication in enlarged LA patients improved LV and LA function. This strategy may contribute to the better long-term outcomes of AFMR compared to mitral valve repair alone.