Perioperative outcomes
The early surgical results and pre-discharge echocardiographic data are shown in Table 3. All patients were discharged on foot. No patients developed complications such as stroke, wound infection, re-exploration for bleeding, or respiratory failure. No patients required a second run of cardiopulmonary bypass because of residual regurgitation. The mean operative time was 282 ± 82 minutes, the mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 167 ± 49 minutes, and the mean cross-clamp time was 141 ± 42 minutes. All patients had an uneventful postoperative course and were discharged to home 35 ± 5 days after the surgery with completion of intravenous antibiotic therapy. Pre-discharge echocardiography revealed no or trivial mitral regurgitation in all patients. No patients showed systolic anterior movement of the anterior leaflet. In all patients, postoperative left ventricular function was favorable (left ventricular end-diastolic / systolic diameter, 45 ± 2 / 30 ± 2 mm; left ventricular ejection fraction, 62% ± 6%).