What?
Heart surgery to repair the mitral valve of the heart is very commonly performed. A common way to get access to the heart in order to perform this surgery is by cutting open the breastbone. This procedure is called a sternotomy.
The mitral valve can also be repaired by surgery that involves a much smaller cut on the side of the chest. This is called a mini thoracotomy. The Mini Mitral Trial aims to determine which type of surgery allows patients to get back to their normal activities the soonest.
How?
330 patients requiring a mitral valve repair were recruited over four years for this trial. A computer decided which type of surgery each patient had in order to avoid any bias.
Patients answered questions before and after their surgery about their quality of life and activity levels. Patients had a heart scan (Echocardiogram) 12 weeks and 12 months after their surgery to check how well their valve was working. Their activity levels were also monitored using a wrist watch device (accelerometer) on several occasions post surgery.
All this data was compared to determine which surgery allowed patients to return to their normal activities the soonest.
Chief investigator
Mr Enoch Akowuah
Current status
Recruitment to this trial is complete.
The scientific paper was published in JAMA in June 2023. Use the following link to access the paper – JAMA paper
A patient facing video that explains the findings and what these mean for future patients has been developed and can be accessed using the following link – Patient Video
Participating sites
South Tees Hospitals NHS FT, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS FT, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, King’s College Hospital NHS FT, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS FT, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (NHS Lothian), Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS FT, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS FT, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.