Impact of sex on long-term outcomes following mitral valve repair

Introduction: Previous studies have identified inferior outcomes for women undergoing mitral valve (MV) surgery compared to men, although the cause of this discrepancy has not been identified. We look to isolate surgical approach to identify any impact that sex has on outcomes in order to better inform clinical decision making.Materials and methods: In this propensity matched, retrospective, single-center study, outcomes were compared between males and females undergoing a MV repair between 2004 and 2018. The primary outcome was defined as mortality at any point in the follow-up period. Secondary outcomes included stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), repeat revascularization, complications arising from the initial procedure, and postoperative cardiac remodeling.Results: A total of 188 males and 188 females were included after propensity matching. At a median follow up time of 7.6 years, there were 25 deaths in the male group (26.8%) and 23 in the female group (28.2%) (p = 0.771). There were no significant differences in MI, stroke, post-operative pacemaker insertion, or rehospitalization following MV repair. Left ventricular (LV) size for males was reduced from an initial 55.6 +/- 7.3 mm to 49.9 +/- 7.4 mm (p < 0.001), and for females from an initial 51.5 +/- 7 mm to 46.9 +/- 7.1 mm (p < 0.001). LV ejection fraction (LVEF) was reduced with a preoperative LVEF for males of 57.7% +/- 8.9% and 53.7% +/- 9.6% postoperatively (p = 0.002), and LVEF for females of 57.8% +/- 9.1% preoperatively and 54.8% +/- 9.2% postoperatively (p < 0.001). Left atrial (LA) volume was reduced from an initial 51 +/- 22 ml/m(2) to 43.7 +/- 25.2 ml/m(2) (p < 0.001), and 50.9 +/- 19.2 ml/m(2) to 44.2 +/- 19.8 ml/m(2) (p < 0.001), for males and females respectively. LA diameter was reduced for males from an initial 49.7 +/- 9.7 mm to 47.3 +/- 9.4 mm (p = 0.043), and from 48 +/- 8.7 mm to 44.3 +/- 9.1 mm for females postoperatively (p = 0.017).Conclusions: Current literature demonstrates inferior outcomes for females when compared to males undergoing MV surgery with patients undergoing a variety of surgical approaches. The results of this study suggest that surgical intervention for a subset of patients, those undergoing repair of the MV, is safe and offers similar outcomes for males and females.