Mitral Annuloplasty Ring Flexibility Preferentially Reduces Posterior Suture Forces

Annuloplasty ring repair is a common procedure for the correction of mitral valve regurgitation. Commercially available rings vary in dimensions and material properties. Annuloplasty ring suture dehiscence from the native annulus is a catastrophic yet poorly understood phenomenon that has been reported across ring types. Recognizing that sutures typically dehisce from the structurally weaker posterior annulus, our group is conducting a multi-part study in search of ring design parameters that influence forces acting on posterior annular sutures in the beating heart.
Source: Journal of Biomechanics - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research