Mitral valve regurgitation: a disease with a wide spectrum of therapeutic options

Over the past two decades interest in mitral valve regurgitation has increased as a result of the development of new technologies that have expanded the number of patients who can potentially benefit from mitral regurgitation treatments. To develop new devices for the treatment of mitral regurgitation, the focus has been placed on the functional anatomy and pathophysiology of the mitral valve, with the use of the most advanced methods of cardiac imaging that allow the best visualization of the mitral valve and a perfect understanding of the complexity of a specific disease. Mitral regurgitation is still underdiagnosed and undertreated in a substantial number of patients who have poor survival. Therefore, the priority should be to identify and treat these patients to increase their survival and quality of life. To achieve this goal, general physicians and cardiologists must be aware of all the treatment options that are currently available in dedicated centres of excellence. Patients referred to these centres can benefit from a tailored heart team-based approach. The aim of this Review is to analyse the basic principles of mitral regurgitation, discussing new concepts on the pathophysiology of the mitral valve that have been developed to facilitate the selection of patients for transcatheter procedures. We also describe the indications and timing of treatment, contemporary surgical and transcatheter techniques and the heart team approach, and highlight the need for centres of excellence. In this Review, Alfieri and colleagues focus on new concepts on mitral valve pathophysiology and patient risk profile assessment to guide the indication and timing of the management of mitral valve regurgitation. The authors also describe new imaging modalities and contemporary surgical and transcatheter techniques, highlighting the need for a multidisciplinary approach. Key points Mitral regurgitation has generated growing interest over the past 20 years; nevertheless, mitral regurgitation is still underdiagnosed and undertreated in a large number of patients who have poor survival and quality of life. Given the different aetiologies, lesions and pathophysiology underlying mitral regurgitation, a proper understanding of the characteristics of the disease is mandatory to plan the correct treatment. The availability of novel and sophisticated multimodality imaging allows an accurate evaluation of the mitral valve complex, guiding the diagnosis, timing of intervention and tre