"Adding Mitral Valve Repair To CABG Does Not Improve Outcomes In Some Patients With Mitral Regurgitation"

Compared with CABG alone, CABG plus surgical mitral valve repair did not improve outcomes in patients with moderate ischemic mitral regurgitation, researchers found. “There has been a long controversy about what to do with patients with moderate ischemic [mitral regurgitation],” researcher Annetine Gelijns, PhD, chair of population science and health policy for the Mount Sinai Health System. One issue clinicians must keep in mind, researcher Alan Moskowitz, MD, vice chair of the department of population science and health policy at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, point out is that “ischemic mitral valve disease really isn’t a valve disease, it’s a muscle disease. The surgical community is working under the premise that correcting the mitral regurgitation would have a beneficial effect, and we anticipate this will change practice.” Learn more.