Positive outcomes for mitral regurgitation patients following surgery

Older adults with mitral regurgitation have positive outcomes following surgery, according to a recent study.

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine claim that patients with the condition, which is a form of valvular heart disease, live longer after surgery that replaces or repairs the mitral valve.

While this procedure is still the most common way to treat mitral regurgitation, there has been much made of the mortality risks and complications posed by surgery, especially in the elderly.

However, the study, led by Dr John A. Dodson, found that short and long-term mortality decreased in all subgroups of age, sex, and race after surgery.

The discovery was made when monitoring the 30-day and one-year mortality rates of 157,032 patients 65 or older between 1999 and 2008.

"Mortality declined significantly at both 30 days and one year," said Dr Dodson. "30-day mortality decreased from 8.1 per cent to 4.2 per cent from 1999 to 2008, a relative decline of 48 per cent."

One-year mortality decreased from 15.3 per cent in 1999 to 9.2 per cent in 2008.

This is positive news for patients with the condition, which causes blood to leak back through the mitral valve in the heart.

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