Long-term clinical outcomes of patients undergoing left ventricular aneurysm repair: A single-center experience in Syria

Background: Left ventricular aneurysm (LVA) is a common complication of myocardial infarction (MI); however, the optimal sur- gical technique for LVA repair has remained controversial. Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed the long-term outcomes of 65 patients, who underwent LVA surgical repair be- tween January 2005 and December 2009. The LVA repair approaches comprised of patch plasty (n = 16), linear (n = 23), and plication (n = 26) repair techniques. Results: Male gender was predominant (89%), and the patients’ mean age was 56 ± 7.1 years. The rate of in-hospital mortality was 4.6%, 4.6%, and 9.2% in the plication, linear and patch plasty repair groups, respectively (P = 0.077). The amount of increase in early postoperative LV ejection fraction was 4.5%, 7% and 9.5%, in the plication, linear and patch plasty techniques, correspondingly (P < 0.001). During the follow-up period (50.6 ± 15.6 months), there were seven (16.7%) cardiac deaths: five deaths in the linear repair group, one in the plication, and one in the patch plasty repair group (P= 0.057). There was no significant difference regarding the survival rate between the patients undergoing different surgical repairs (P = 0.098). Conclusions: Despite having relatively high in-hospital and long-term mortality, LVA after MI could be repaired with similar out- comes using different surgical techniques, including linear, patch plasty, and plication techniques