Neochordoplasty versus leaflet resection for ruptured mitral chordae treatment: Virtual mitral valve repair

Degenerative mitral valve (MV) disease involving mitral prolapse is one of the most prevalent MV pathologies. Quadrangular leaflet resection and neochordoplasty demonstrate excellent clinical outcomes for the treatment of posterior leaflet prolapse. We evaluated the functional and biomechanical characteristics of a virtual pathologic MV model suffering from chordal rupture, performed virtual neochordoplasty and quadrangular leaflet resection, and compared the two post-repair MV functions. The pre-repair MV demonstrated severe posterior leaflet prolapse due to the ruptured P2 chordae and excessive stress concentration. Both repair techniques revealed reduced leaflet prolapse, decreased stress concentration, and restored leaflet coaptation. While neochordoplasty demonstrated further improved leaflet coaptation and superior posterior leaflet mobility, leaflet resection showed more uniform leaflet stress distributions. Virtual MV repair simulation has the ability to predict and quantitate biomechanical and functional improvement following MV repair. This strategy has the potential to help determine the most effective repair technique to restore MV function.