Mitral valve repair available in Europe but still in clinical trial in the United States. It is a highly specialized technique only available at select hospitals. Early trial results suggest that it may be a beneficial approach for patients who are at high risk from conventional surgery. As early as January 2000 a team of doctors at the "Instituto de Cardiología y Cirugía Cardiovascular" in La Habana, Cuba have performed beating heart mitral valve repair or replacement. The beating heart mitral valve replacement technique is as safe as the arrested heart technique, and is the recommended alternative to arrested heart technique. The analogy
Mitral valve replacement from January 1990 to June 1996 is atrial fibrillation. This occurred in 32% of patients. A common pulmonary complication is congestion necessitating prolonged use of oxygen. Other patients required prolonged ventilation of longer than 24 hours for conditions like pulmonary edema, ARDS, and pulmonary thromboemboli Nine patients had renal failure with six of them dying within 30 days after their operation. Five patients had permanent strokes, and nine patients were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of their discharge. Many mitral valves can be repaired instead of replaced, especially for minimally damaged valves. Advantages to valve repair instead of