1. Measured Tube Technique for Ensuring the Correct Length of Slippery Artificial Chordae in Mitral Valvuloplasty 
Yoshiro Matsui, MD, Suguru Kubota, MD, Hiroshi Sugiki, MD, Satoshi Wakasa, MD, Tomonori Ooka, MD, Tsuyoshi Tachibana, MD, Shigeyuki Sasaki, MD 
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 
Volume 92, Issue 3, Pages (September 2011)
DOI: /j.athoracsur
Copyright © 2011 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

2. Fig 1
(A) Gore-Tex mattress suture (W.L. Gore & Associates Inc, Flagstaff, AZ) reinforced with a felt pledget is placed on the head of the papillary muscle. Needles of both sutures are cut and the threads are pulled through the 3-cm to 4-cm plastic tube. After measuring the correct chordae length, the tube is marked by ink. Some pairs of tubes are cut along the line. (B) After passing the thread through the tubes and new needles, both needles are passed once or twice through the prolapsed leaflet from the ventricular to the atrial sides. Both suture arms are left untied. (C) Usually tourniquets are applied temporarily to check proper coaptation by saline test. (D) After checking the tube length, the Gore-Tex suture (W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc) can be tied in the usual manner without knot slippage. (E) Tubes are cut vertically with blunt head scissors to avoid damaging the suture. (F) Tube could be held and removed easily with sharp forceps.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2011 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions