When congestive heart failure complicates mitral valve surgery - The bleak prognosis

To identify the incidence and mechanisms of congestive heart failure after successful valve surgery for mitral regurgitation, we retrospectively analyzed the long-term outcomes of 576 consecutive postoperative patients who survived. The analysis showed that congestive failure was frequently found after surgical correction of mitral regurgitation. Most often the failure was attributable to left ventricular dysfunction that was already present preoperatively and was associated with a dismal prognosis. Our findings suggest that early surgical correction of mitral regurgitation should be considered to prevent postoperative congestive heart failure.