Abstract
BACKGROUND: Performing a mitral valve procedure during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with coronary artery disease complicated by moderate ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) remains controversial. This study aimed to assess the benefit of isolated CABG and to develop a new index of viable myocardium within the papillary muscle-ventricular wall complex (VM-PM-VWC) to predict the improvement of IMR by CABG alone. METHODS: In total, 122 patients (age, 62.34 ± 8.53 years; 78.70% male) with moderate IMR who underwent CABG alone at Beijing Anzhen Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent (99m)Tc-sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and (18)-fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET) to evaluate the VM-PM-VWC. Based on the postoperative echocardiography results at 1-year follow-up, patients were divided into IMR-unimproved (moderate or severe IMR, n = 38) and IMR-improved (no or mild IMR, n = 84) groups. Factors associated with improvement were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: The VM-PM-VWC was an independent factor for moderate IMR improvement (odds ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.24; P < 0.001). The cutoff value for moderate IMR improvement was 12.50%, with a sensitivity and specificity of 76.32% and 80.95%, respectively (area under the curve [AUC] 0.830; 95% CI, 0.741-0.919; P < 0.001). During a median follow-up of 3.71 (interquartile range: 2.17-5.10) years, major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event-free survival was higher in the improved group than in the unimproved group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with moderate IMR improved from isolated CABG. The VM-PM-VWC was an independent predictor of IMR improvement, which could help surgical decision making. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR2100042454.