Late results of combined mitral valve replacement and coronary bypass surgery

The incremental risk of coronary bypass surgery was analyzed in 718 patients undergoing mitral valve replacement between 1971 and 1983. Ninety-eight patients (14%) had significant coronary artery disease requiring coronary bypass surgery. In 70 of these patients, the origin of the mitral valve disease was nonischemic, whereas 28 patients had ischemic mitral regurgitation unsuitable for conservative valve surgery. There were six operative deaths (9%) and four perioperative myocardial infarctions (6%) after mitral valve replacement and coronary bypass surgery for nonischemic mitral valve disease. Operative mortality was related to low output cardiac failure before operation or perioperative myocardial infarction. Actuarial curves predict survival (± standard error) of 55 ± 7% at 5 years and 43 ± 8% at 10 years. Preoperative functional class was the only significant predictor of long-term survival in this group (p < 0.05). The actuarial survival of the 620 patients without coronary artery disease who underwent mitral valve replacement alone was 63 ± 3% at 10 years. This was significantly better than that of the 70 patients who underwent mitral valve replacement and coronary bypass surgery for nonischemic mitral valve disease (p < 0.001). Conversely, 5 year survival of the 28 patients with ischemic mitral regurgitation was 43 ± 10%. This confirms the negative detrimental effect of an ischemic origin of mitral valve disease on survival after mitral valve replacement and coronary bypass surgery (p < 0.0001).