Premeasured neochordae loop maker: a new technology in mitral valve repair.
The exact length of neochordae loops plays the major role in the success of mitral valve repair. The Neochordae Loop Maker is a novel device that models the left ventricular structure in an individual patient. Preoperative transthoracic echocardiography is used to identify the geometry of each papillary muscle and set up the device for the patient. All required neochordae loops are made in the operating room before initiating the cardiopulmonary bypass. In the calibration phase, seven consecutive patients who were candidates for mitral valve replacement underwent transthoracic echocardiography. The device was set up for each patient, and the length of their normal chordae and their respective neochordae was compared by the Bland-Altman analysis. From seven excised mitral valves, 21 chordae were considered normal (gold standard). The length of these gold standards (1.92 ± 0.67 cm) and their respective neochordae (1.93 ± 0.69 cm) showed agreement by the Bland-Altman analysis. The proposed technology showed satisfactory preliminary results in creating the premeasured neochorda loops inasmuch as it reduced the complexity of minimally invasive surgeries.