Fourteen Years’ Survival After Batista Operation: The Short History of a Long Journey

Abstract

A 41-year-old man with end-stage heart failure due to nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy was submitted to the Batista procedure as an alternative to heart transplantation. With surgery, the patient showed progressive clinical amelioration, achieving long-term stable NYHA functional class II, despite gradual dilation of the heart chambers. Persistent atrial fibrillation appeared on the last year of life, his clinical condition deteriorated, and the patient died 14 years, four months, and 13 days after the operation. To the best of our knowledge this seems to be the longest reported survival for a patient submitted to Batista operation.