[Annuloplasty with a semi-rigid supporting ring for correction of mitral insufficiency].

The paper presents an anatomic and physiologic substantiation and an analysis of the initial clinical experience of mitral annuloplasty with the aid of original semi-rigid metallic supporting rings. The authors' experience comprises 33 operations with 2 cases of hospital mortality (6.2%). The problems of diagnosis and surgical technique are discussed, with special reference to the rationale of annuloplasty in cases of combined mitral diseases (stenosis and insufficiency). The obtained results demonstrate the efficacy of the introduced method of annuloplasty ensuring a stable restoration of the function of the mitral valve.