Quality of life after successful percutaneous mitral commissurotomy; 3 years follow up study

Abstract

BackgroundLimited data are available concerning QoL after PMC in patients with MS. QoL is not easily defined as mere survival; the goal is not only to achieve survival, but also health, well-being and some reasonably good quality of living as well. The content of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire (MLHFQ) was selected to be representative of the ways pulmonary congestion and treatments can affect the key physical, emotional, social and mental dimensions of QoL. We aimed to study the effect of successful PMC on the QoL after 3 years of follow up. Methods50 patients with isolated moderate and severe rheumatic MS who underwent successful PMC. All of the following parameters were measured before PMC and after 3 years of follow up using transthoracic echocardiography: Mitral valve area (MVA), mean diastolic pressure gradient (MDPG), right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). MLHFQ was applied before PMC and after 3 years of PMC. ResultsAfter 3 years of follow up, QoL was significantly improved in rheumatic MS cases who underwent successful PMC (p<0.001). QoL improvement was significantly correlated with the gain in MVA (r=−0.29, P=0.04). The improvement in QoL is much better in the patients who maintained their MVA≥2cm2 (t=−1.99, p=0.05). ConclusionsIn cases with rheumatic MS; successful PMC improved QoL significantly specially in patients whose MVA stay ≥2cm2 after 3 years of follow up.