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Correspondence

Z-Plasty: New or Folding-Plasty Redux

St. John's Mercy Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Suite R-7040, 625 South New Ballas Rd, St. Louis, MO 63141

(Email: ebsavage2{at}hotmail.com).

To the Editor:

I recently read and was somewhat concerned by the title of an article in the "How to Do It" section in the July issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, entitled "‘Z-Plasty Suture': A New Procedure for Complex Reconstructions of Posterior Mitral Leaflet" [1]. Although I find this technique very interesting, I want to point out that quite a few of us who have a large experience with mitral valve repair have been using this technique for years. I personally consider this an adaptation of a posterior folding plasty, which was referenced by Spencer and colleagues [2] in 1998, and an adaptation of the double-breasted mitral valve repair technique, which was described by Raman and colleagues [3] in 2002. Although I believe this is an excellent article and that it demonstrates the validity of this technique, I believe that this technique is not "new" and the authors should acknowledge the predecessors who proposed similar techniques that they have adapted and presented in this publication. Surgeons who perform mitral valve repair often understand that each case is different and requires creative adaptation of general principles to specific anatomy: a Z-plasty may be suitable when a simple posterior folding-plasty or double-breasted technique is not.

	References

Top References

 

1. Bellitti R, Sante P, Dialetto G, et al. "Z-plasty suture": a new procedure for complex reconstructions of posterior mitral leaflet Ann Thorac Surg 2007;84:306-308.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Spencer FC, Galloway AC, Grossi EA, et al. Recent development in evolving techniques of mitral valve reconstruction Ann Thorac Surg 1998;65:307-313.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
3. Raman JS, Gupta R, Shah P, Setty R, Tambara K. Double breasted repair of the posterior mitral valve leaflet Ann Thorac Surg 2002;74:206-207.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Bellitti and P. Sante Reply. Ann. Thorac. Surg., June 1, 2008; 85(6): 2161 - 2161. [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Edward B. Savage Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Savage, E. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Savage, E. B. Related Collections Valve disease