[Preservation of the posterior mitral valve leaflet and effect on follow-up results after additional mitral valve implantation].

As early as 1964, Lillehei et al. published the technique of preservation of the posterior mitral leaflet (PML) and chordae tendineae in combination with mitral prosthesis implantation (MPI). In a limited randomized number of 95 patients with MPI the influence of preservation of PML on hemodynamics and physical capacity at least 46 months after surgery without (group A) and with preservation of PML (group B) was investigated. Statistically significant differences in favor of group B were found for cardiac index, pulmonary artery pressure after stress, end-diastolic volume index (EDVI), physical capacity and survival rate after a complication-free course. Basing on these results at rest and after exertion (30 W), patients with preservation of PML and MPI are long-term in a better clinical condition.