Methods: Sixty-three patients with severe pulmonary hypertension underwent mitral valve surgery between January 2001 and November 2002. Thirty-eight (%60.3) patients were female, 25 (%39.7) patients were male, the mean age of the patients was 49.5 ± 10.5 (ranged 24 to 68 years). Preoperatively 38 (%60.3) patients were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class IV, 15 (%23.8) patients in NYHA class III and 10 (%15.8) patients were in NYHA class II. Preoperative echocardiographic assessments were performed in all patients. Thirty (%47.6) patients underwent isolated mitral valve replacement (MVR), 15 (%24) patients underwent both MVR and aortic valve replacement, and 18 (%28.5) patients underwent MVR and tricuspid valve de Vega annuloplasty.

Results: The early mortality rate was 7.93% (n = 5), and late mortality rate was 1.7% (n = 1). The functional capacity of the patients improved significantly: 20 (%35) patients were in NYHA class I, 31 (%55) patients in NHYA class II, and 6 (%10) patients in NYHA class III postoperatively (p < 0.05). Systolic pulmonary artery pressure dropped from 83.06 ± 12.9 mmHg to 39.6 ± 14 mmHg (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Patients with mitral valve disease benefit from surgical treatment regardless of the degree of pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension decreases significantly after operation.