Acute intraoperative echocardiographic changes after transapical off-pump mitral valve repair with NeoChord implantation

Objectives Our aim is to investigate the acute intraoperative effects of the NeoChord repair procedure on mitral valve (MV) annular geometry and LV function and the impact of these changes on MR at 1-year follow-up. Background Recently transapical off-pump mitral valve repair with NeoChord implantation has been demonstrated to be safe and effective in patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR). Methods We retrospectively analyzed baseline and early postoperative 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography of 66 patients who underwent NeoChord repair for isolated posterior leaflet MV disease using semiautomatic off-line analysis software. Results We observed a significant acute reduction of indexed LV end diastolic volume (Δ% = 14, p < .001), LV ejection fraction (Δ = 5.7%, p = .002), indexed left atrial volume (Δ = 14.7%, p = .045), and pulmonary artery pressure (Δ = 2.1%, p = .026). Among MV geometric parameters, we observed a significant reduction of MV antero-posterior diameter (Δ = 7%, p < .001), sphericity index (Δ = 8%, p < .001), annulus circumference (Δ = 0.9%, p = .021), and annulus area (Δ = 2.7%, p = .018). At 1-year, 53 patients (85.5%) presented MR ≤ mild, while 9 patients (14.5%) had MR ≥ moderate. Reduction of AP diameter (OR = 0.14, CI −3.83; 0.08, p < .001), annulus circumference (OR = 0.27, CI −2.98; 0.37, p = .005), MV area (OR = 0.39, CI −2.46; 0.61, p = .04), aorto-mitral angle (OR = 0.38, CI −2.49; 0.54, p = .002) and iEDV (OR = 0.44, CI −2.44; 0.81, p = .001) were independent protective factors against recurrence of MR greater than mild at 1-year follow-up. Conclusions Transapical NeoChord repair produces important acute intraoperative changes in MV anatomy in DMR patients. The acute changes observed were associated with procedure durability at 1-year FU.