Craig,
we have plenty of (Fabric) MetroClusters running using patch panels. Be aware tho that patch panels might "eat" a bit of the allowed maximum cabeling lenght. eg. if the distance is close to the allowed 500m with OM3+ cables, path panels cause additional damping and your metrocluster might fail to synchronize. hard to tell tho how much lenght a patch panel costs, depending on cable & manufacturing quality, it will cost you between 5 and 50m distance.
So it will be something like this:
[Head1] -> [5m LC-LC Cable to] -> [Patch Panel (costs you 10m)] -> [200m OM3+ cable to] -> [Patch Panel (costs you 10m)] -> [5m LC-LCL Cabel to] -> [Head2] = 230m distance between the heads
Kind regards
Thomas