Morphometric study of the human mitral annulus: guide for mitral valve surgery.
BACKGROUND
during mitral valve surgery, it is important for surgeons to understand the anatomy of the mitral valve annulus to prevent surgical complications. This study aimed to perform morphometry of the mitral annulus to facilitate secure suturing during ring annuloplasty or replacement of the mitral valve.


METHODS
an anatomical study was carried out on 7 human hearts. We divided the mitral valve annulus into sections containing 8 different points. It was noted that the annulus was a complex structure which has fibrous continuity with the mitral leaflets, and with or without the aortic annulus.


RESULTS
there was always a segment of the annular fibrous structure which was facing directly toward the left ventricular cavity. The length of the segment ranged from 1.0 to 3.4 mm. In terms of the size of the annulus, there were large variations within the subject and among the subjects. The shortest distance between the mitral annulus and left circumflex coronary artery was at the anterolateral commissure, and the length was 3.3 mm.


CONCLUSION
this study has improved understanding of the anatomy of the mitral annulus, which could help surgeons to avoid operative complications. Based on this study, several suggestions are made for placing sutures for mitral valve replacement and mitral ring annuloplasty.
['Eto|Masataka|M|', 'Morita|Shigeki|S|', 'Nakashima|Yutaka|Y|', 'Nishimura|Yousuke|Y|', 'Tominaga|Ryuji|R|']
D059925:Anatomic Landmarks D001344:Autopsy D005260:Female D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D008943:Mitral Valve D058386:Mitral Valve Annuloplasty D011474:Prosthesis Design D013536:Suture Techniques
mitral valve Anatomy cardiac surgical procedures coronary vessels heart valve prosthesis implantation mitral valve annuloplasty regional