Abstract
Posterior leaflet prolapse following chordal elongation or rupture is one of the primary valvular diseases in patients with degenerative mitral valves (MVs). Quadrangular resection followed by ring annuloplasty is a reliable and reproducible surgical repair technique for treatment of posterior leaflet prolapse. Virtual MV repair simulation of leaflet resection in association with patient-specific 3D echocardiographic data can provide quantitative biomechanical and physiologic characteristics of pre- and post-resection MV function. We have developed a solid personalized computational simulation protocol to perform virtual MV repair using standard clinical guidelines of posterior leaflet resection with annuloplasty ring implantation. A virtual MV model was created using 3D echocardiographic data of a patient with posterior chordal rupture and severe mitral regurgitation. A quadrangle-shaped leaflet portion in the prolapsed posterior leaflet was removed, and virtual plication and suturing were performed. An annuloplasty ring of proper size was reconstructed and virtual ring annuloplasty was performed by superimposing the ring and the mitral annulus. Following the quadrangular resection and ring annuloplasty simulations, patient-specific annular motion and physiologic transvalvular pressure gradient were implemented and dynamic finite element simulation of MV function was performed. The pre-resection MV demonstrated a substantial lack of leaflet coaptation which directly correlated with the severe mitral regurgitation. Excessive stress concentration was found along the free marginal edge of the posterior leaflet involving the chordal rupture. Following the virtual resection and ring annuloplasty, the severity of the posterior leaflet prolapse markedly decreased. Excessive stress concentration disappeared over both anterior and posterior leaflets, and complete leaflet coaptation was effectively restored. This novel personalized virtual MV repair strategy has great potential to help with preoperative selection of the patient-specific optimal MV repair techniques, allow innovative surgical planning to expect improved efficacy of MV repair with more predictable outcomes, and ultimately provide more effective medical care for the patient.
Highlights
Posterior leaflet prolapse following chordal elongation or rupture is one of the primary valvular diseases in patients with degenerative mitral valves (MVs) [1]
Abnormal bulging of the posterior leaflet was clearly found in the 3D computational evaluation of MV function, which corresponds to the location and severity of mitral regurgitation (MR) in the Doppler ultrasound data
Computational simulation of virtual quadrangular posterior leaflet resection and ring annuloplasty was successfully performed using the open configuration of the patient MV involving P2 chordal rupture (Fig 4)
Summary
Posterior leaflet prolapse following chordal elongation or rupture is one of the primary valvular diseases in patients with degenerative mitral valves (MVs) [1]. Leaflet prolapse is commonly accompanied with varying degrees of mitral regurgitation (MR) due to leaflet malcoaptation during systole [1, 2]. MV repair is well-known to be generally superior to total MV replacement in patients who have degenerative MV diseases [6]. Clinical long-term outcomes demonstrate that quadrangular resection followed by annular plication and/or sliding leaflet plasty is a reliable and reproducible surgical repair technique for treatment of posterior leaflet prolapse [1, 6, 7]
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