Management of ischaemic mitral regurgitation

Abstract

Ischaemic mitral regurgitation is a distinctive valve disease in that, unlike with organic valvulopathies, abnormalities of the left ventricle are not the consequence but the cause of the valve disease. Ischaemic mitral regurgitation is more a pathology of the muscle than the valve and the characteristics of the underlying coronary disease are important determinants of clinical presentation and prognosis. Important advances in the understanding of pathophysiology, evaluation, and prognosis have occurred during recent years and confirmed that ischaemic mitral regurgitation has many specific features which differentiates it from organic regurgitations. The evaluation of the results of the different therapeutic methods has also improved, even if their relevance in clinical practice is lim- ited by the heterogeneity of the disease and the number of confounding factors. c