Mitral valve repair in a patient with severe porcelain aorta.

We repaired the mitral valve in a patient with severe porcelain aorta. Significant mitral regurgitation developed in a 66-year-old woman with heavy calcification throughout the whole aorta. At operation, cardiopulmonary bypass was properly established by combined axillary and femoral arterial cannulations for sufficient systemic flow. Likewise, the combination of a superior mitral approach and profound hypothermic fibrillatory arrest in conjunction with low-flow cardiopulmonary bypass allowed us to repair the mitral valve successfully.