Minimally-invasive mitral valve repair of symmetric and asymmetric Barlow´s disease

Objectives Barlow´s disease represents a wide spectrum of mitral valve pathologies associated with regurgitation (MR), excess leaflet tissue, and prolapse. Repair strategies range from complex repairs with annuloplasty plus neochords through resection to annuloplasty-only. The latter requires symmetric prolapse patterns and central regurgitant jets. We aimed to assess repair success and durability, survival, and intraoperative outcomes with symmetric and asymmetric Barlow’s disease. Methods Between 09/10 and 03/20, 103 patients (of 1939 with mitral valve surgery) presented with Barlow´s disease. All received surgery through mini-thoracotomy with annuloplasty plus neochords (n = 71) or annuloplasty-only (n = 31). One valve was replaced for endocarditis (repair rate: 99%). Results Annuloplasty-only patients were older (64 ± 16 vs. 55 ± 11 years, p = 0.008) and presented with higher risk (EuroSCORE II: 4.2 ± 4.9 vs. 1.6 ± 1.7, p = 0.007). Annuloplasty-only patients had shorter cross-clamp times (53 ± 18 min vs. 76 ± 23 min, p p p = 0.455). In three patients, annuloplasty-only caused intraoperative systolic anterior motion (SAM), which was fully resolved by neochords to the posterior leaflet. There were no conversions to sternotomy or deaths at 30-days. Three patients required reoperation for recurrent MR (at 25 days, 2.8 and 7.8 years). At the latest follow-up, there was no MR in 81.4%, mild in 14.7%, and moderate in 2.9%. Three patients died due to non-cardiac reasons. Surviving patients report the absence of relevant symptoms. Conclusions Minimally-invasive Barlow’s repair is safe with good durability. Annuloplasty-only may be a simple solution for complex but symmetric pathologies. However, it may carry an increased risk of intraoperative SAM.