Minimally invasive repair of the mitral valve: technological and clinical developments.

The present article will review new technology in the invasive approach to mitral valvular disease. Mitral valve pathology continues to present an important challenge to the cardiac surgeon and interventionalist. From the early days of closed mitral valvular commisurotomy, a number of new approaches to this valve have been developed. Mitral stenosis was previously approached through a minimally invasive beating heart surgical approach, but may now be treated with either catheter-based or open surgical techniques. Regurgitation, which has become the leading pathology of the mitral valve in the developed world, may be approached through traditional cardiac surgery or through catheter-based techniques. New imaging techniques and device innovation will cause drastic changes in therapy for mitral valvular disease in the foreseeable future.