Do patients with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery benefit from an early repair of the mitral valve?

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine mid-term outcomes of patients with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery undergoing coronary repair only (group A) or simultaneous mitral valve repair (group B). METHODS Patients with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery who underwent surgery from 2000 to 2017 were reviewed. Mitral regurgitation (MR) grade (none, mild, moderate, severe), left ventricular (LV) function [ejection fraction (EF): <40%, 40–50%, >50%] and LV Z-scores (long axis) were assessed preoperatively and at last visit. Outcomes were compared within/between the groups using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS Of 58 patients (67% women; median age 4.4 months), 39 patients were in group A (67%) and 19 patients in group B (33%). The median hospital stay (11 days, interquartile range 5–18) and average follow-up time (2.6 ± 0.5 years) did not differ significantly between the groups (P > 0.05). Four patients in group A (10.3%) underwent mitral valve reintervention. The median MR grade differed significantly between the groups preoperatively (2 vs 3, P < 0.001) but not at the last visit (2 vs 2, P = 0.88); both groups improved significantly (P = 0.021, P < 0.001). EF grade (<40%, 40–50%, >50%) did not differ significantly between the groups at baseline (group A: 38%/23%/38% vs group B: 58%/10%/32%, P = 0.32) or at last visit (group A: 18%/15%/67% vs group B: 26%/16%/58%, P = 0.75); both groups improved significantly (P = 0.004, P = 0.014). The mean LV Z-scores for groups A and B were 3.1 ± 0.5 and 4.5 ± 0.6 before surgery (P < 0.05) and 1.5 ± 0.3 and 2.7 ± 0.6 at last visit (P = 0.77). CONCLUSIONS The repair of anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery is associated with improvement in MR, EF and LV dimensions. However, in cases of ≥moderate MR, the risk of mitral valve reintervention may be higher in patients undergoing coronary transfer only.