Pulmonary Function Changes Before and After Mitral Valve Surgery in Severe Mitral Stenosis

Abstract

Abstract Objective This study was undertaken to assess the pulmonary functions in the patients with predominant severe mitral stenosis before corrective mitral valve surgery, then to reassess the same 6 months after surgery and compare them. Patients and Methods Fifty consecutive patients with predominant severe mitral stenosis undergoing mitral valve replacement surgery were included in this prospective observational study. This study was conducted from July 2016 till January 2018 after obtaining approval from the institute's ethics committee and written consent from all the participants. All the patients were evaluated clinically and divided according to New York Heart Association (NYHA) class symptomatology. Computed spirometric pulmonary function tests (PFTs) such as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, forced expiratory flow (FEF) 25–75%, peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), and maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) were performed on each patient 1 day before and 6 months after surgery. Results Fifty study patients were analyzed, mean age was 38.4 ± 10.76 years (15–56 years), and male-to-female ratio was 1:1.38 (21 males and 29 females). NYHA class symptoms improved significantly in most of our patients after surgery (p < 0.01). PFTs such as FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC ratio, FEF 25–75%, and MVV showed significant improvement 6 months after surgery (p < 0.01). Though PEFR also improved compared with preoperative values, it was not significant statistically (p < 0.07). Conclusion This study showed that the lung functions are impaired in patients with severe mitral stenosis and improved significantly 6 months after surgery, which does not correlate well with the betterment of NYHA class.