L-R Stephen Dewan, MD, Carlos Duran, MD, PhD, and John Oswalt, MD  

October 26 and 27, 2007 – CTVS Surgeons John Oswalt, MD and Stephen Dewan, MD hosted cardiac surgeons from all over the country for a Mitral Valve Repair Workshop at the Heart Hospital of Austin. Sponsored by Medtronic, the symposium included Carlos M. G. Duran, MD, PhD, inventor of the Duran Flexible Annuloplasty Ring, as faculty.

The workshop employed peer-to-peer training in the latest technologies and advanced techniques in heart valve surgery. Faculty incorporated a combination of live mitral valve repair surgery using videoconference, wet lab, and lecture. Drs. Oswalt and Dewan, who have been repairing mitral valves for 26 years in Austin, presented their outcomes and a success rate of 90%, as compared to a national average success rate of 40%.

Drs. Dewan and Oswalt also discussed indications for repair surgery in patients with moderate to severe mitral valve regurgitation (MR). Studies suggest a lower operative mortality and a better long term survival after valve repair than replacement. MV repair is very durable with a low rate of reoperation for recurrent MR, and with an event-free survival ranging from 80-90% at 5-10 years.