EARLY SURGERY MAY BE BETTER FOR PATIENTS WITH MITRAL VALVE REGURGITATION

Bloomberg News (8/14, Cortez, 1.41M) reports that research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that individuals who have “damaged mitral valves” may “live longer and healthier lives if they get immediate surgery to repair a severe defect rather than wait for symptoms to appear.”

CardioSource (8/14, 2K) reports that, according to the researchers, “The advantages associated with early surgical correction of mitral valve regurgitation were confirmed in both unmatched and matched populations, using multiple statistical methods.”

MedPage Today (8/14, Phend, 185K) reports that “repair within 3 months of diagnosis in absence of traditional class I indications was associated with roughly half the mortality risk of watchful waiting, for 10-year survival rates of 86% versus 69% (P<0 .001="" 10="" 23="" absence="" also="" and="" any="" at="" atrial="" benefits="" class="" come="" developed="" didn="" early="" even="" extra="" failure="" fewer="" fibrillation="" for="" found="" heart="" held="" i="" in="" investigators="" o:p="" of="" overall.="" p="" patients="" risk="" substantially="" surgery="" t="" that="" the="" these="" traditional="" triggers="" versus="" with="" years="">

Heartwire (8/14, O'Riordan, 5K) points out that “the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines for the treatment of MR state that surgery is a class I indication for symptomatic patients or those with an ejection fraction <60 diameter="" end-systolic="" left="" or="">40 mm.” 

HealthDay (8/14, Thompson, 2K) also covers the story

POSTED BY:  Steven Almany M.D.