Commentator Discussion: Mitral valve surgery in patients with Marfan syndrome

Objective: To review the pathology of the mitral valve (MV) and long-term outcomes of surgery in patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS). Patients and Methods: From 1988 through 2020, 60 patients with MFS had surgery to correct mitral regurgitation (MR): 19 had isolated MV surgery, 32 had combined MV and aortic root surgery, and 9 had MV surgery after aortic root surgery. Follow-up was complete for a median of 16.1 years. Results: MV pathology was myxomatous degeneration in all patients and of advanced degree in 78.6% with bileaflet prolapse in 65.5%, mitral annulus disjunction in 57.5%, and mitral annulus calcification in 8.2% of patients. The MV was repaired in 47 patients and replaced in 13. Kaplan-Meier estimates of cumulative mortality at 20 years 21.3% for all patients, 6.7% after MV repair, and 57.8% after replacement (P < .001). MV reoperations were performed in 5 patients: 2 after repair and 3 after replacement. The cumulative incidence rate of reoperations on the MV was 3.8% at 10 years and 11.0% at 20 years in the entire cohort. Among 47 patients who had MV repair, moderate MR developed in 11 patients and severe in 2. Both patients with severe MR underwent MV reoperation. The cumulative incidence rate of recurrent moderate or severe MR after MV repair was 20.4% at 10 years, and 36.5% at 20 years. Conclusions: MV repair was associated with better survival than MV replacement, but recurrent MR after repair occurred in approximately one-third of the patients at 20 years after surgery.