"Portrait" of patients with pulmonary hypertension, associated with mitral valve diseases before cardiac surgery

Aim. To study “the portrait” of patients with acquired mitral valve (MV) heart disease of various origins and pulmonary hypertension hospitalized for surgical correction of the defect.

Methods. The study included 97 patients with acquired diseases of mitral valve and pulmonary hypertension. The assessment of demographic, clinical and anamnestic data, indicators of transthoracic echocardiography, quality of life before the correction of MV defect was carried out.

Results. The studied cohort is mostly represented by female patients (n = 70; 72.2%). The most common cause of mitral valve disease was rheumatic heart disease (n = 40; 41.2%). Overweight, hypertension (n = 76; 78.4%) and atrial fibrillation (n = 62; 63.9%) were the most common comorbidities. The mean pressure level in the pulmonary artery according to echocardiography was 35.5 (29.0; 40.0) mm Hg, with no significant difference among the patients, regardless the mitral defect etiology. Less pronounced remodeling of the left ventricle was noted in patients with rheumatic heart disease, which is caused by a lesion of the MV by the type of stenosis in contrast to patients with connective tissue dysplasia syndrome or against the background of detachment of MV chords with MV damage in the form of its insufficiency. There were no significant differences in the systolic function of the right ventricle depending on the etiology of MV defect.

Conclusion. The “portrait” of a patient with pulmonary hypertension associated with an acquired mitral valve defect before its correction is the predominance of female, overweight, with II or III functional class of chronic heart failure, more frequent rheumatic genesis of MV defect, the presence of concomitant pathology in the form of hypertension and persistent atrial fibrillation, and increased size of the left atrium and left ventricle, reduced systolic function of the right ventricle according to the data of Echocardiography. 

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