Demographics and Baseline Clinical Profile
Preoperative patient characteristics are detailed
in Table
1. Patients who underwent MVR were overall a sicker group of patients;
they were older, were more likely to have unstable angina, New York
Heart Association (NYHA) class IV symptoms, cardiogenic shock, recent
MI, peripheral vascular disease, end-stage renal failure and the need
for urgent or emergent surgery. These differences were not unexpected
since the patients were not randomized. The decision whether to repair
or replace the mitral valve was based at least in part on these
characteristics.