Comprehensive Assessment of Primary Mitral Valve Disease: Clinical Presentation, Diagnosis, Medical and Surgical Therapy

Mitral valve disease comprises a variety of pathologies that lead to valvular regurgitation or stenosis. In the developed world, clinicians most often encounter patients with mitral regurgitation (MR). Advances in echocardiography, particularly 3D, have substantially improved the diagnosis of mitral valve pathology and quantification of lesion severity. Currently no medical therapy directed at primary MR improves the natural history of the disease, but significant progress has been made in the surgical management of primary MR where better repair techniques have decreased operative mortality and improved durability.