Surgical outcomes of heart valves replacement: A study of tertiary specialied cardiac center

BACKGROUND: Heart valve disease is a significant and increasing global problem in the developing world. The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of postoperative complications and mortality in patients who underwent heart valve replacement. METHODS: In this prospective study, 320 adult cases (186 females and 134 males, mean age of: 45.7 ± 15.0) with valvular heart diseases who underwent heart valve replacement at our center, from June 2011 to January 2012 were enrolled. All the required demographic, echocardiographic, and electrocardiogram data were studied. The incidence of intraoperative and early postoperative complications and mortality were evaluated. RESULTS: Among total, 96.3% of the cases underwent elective surgery. Mitral valve replacement surgery was occurred the most in 58.8% of the cases. In 11.3% of the cases, bioprosthetic valves and in 88.8% of the patients prosthetic valves were required. Early postoperative complications were occurred in 85 patients (26.6%), including: valve-related events: 7 cases, postoperative arrhythmia: 24 patients, worsening function of the repaired valve: 16 cases and general complications: 38 patients. Mortality was occurred in 25 patients (7.8%), 10 cases due to cardiac problems versus 15 patients due to non-cardiac problems. There were significant correlations between age, simultaneous valve repair and replacement, the anatomic site of the valve and the incidence of postoperative complications. Age, history of diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), and high grade of functional capacity were reported the significant causes of postoperative mortality. CONCLUSION: Age, DM, HTN, functional capacity and multivalve disease are significant predictors of post-valvular surgery morbidity and mortality.