A stepwise protocol-driven echocardiography shared by referring physician and surgeon helps guide referral to surgical repair in degenerative mitral regurgitation.
Does protocol-driven echocardiography improve surgical reparability and repair rates in patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation due to leaflet prolapse?
Protocol-driven echocardiography, particularly 3D-TEE, is crucial for identifying the patho-anatomy of degenerative mitral regurgitation to guide surgical referral and maximize successful valve repair rates.
Introduction: Despite current guidelines provide recommendations for the optimal management of degenerative mitral regurgitation (MR), this condition remains often undertreated with delay in surgical referral and dismal effect on outcomes.Areas covered: This review focuses on the role of echocardiography in guiding mitral valve (MV) surgical repair in degenerative MR due to leaflet prolapse.Expert opinion: A stepwise protocol-driven echocardiography shared by referring physician and surgeon may help to guide referral to surgical repair in degenerative MR. This protocol particularly is useful to identify the ideal patho-anatomy for a successful and durable repair especially when early surgery is proposed and to refer the patient to centers of excellence in case of complex anatomy. Nearly 100% repair rate can be achieved when the surgical technique is adapted to the lesions seen in each valve. Three-dimensional echocardiography predicts repair complexity may be useful and should therefore be implemented. However, the current literature is far from comprehensive deriving from small, single-center studies. Therefore, reproducibility and external validation, especially with newly developed quantitative automated software, are still needed.
Mantovani et al. (Mon,) conducted a review in Degenerative mitral regurgitation due to leaflet prolapse. Protocol-driven echocardiography (3D-TEE) was evaluated. A stepwise protocol-driven echocardiography shared by referring physician and surgeon helps guide referral to surgical repair in degenerative mitral regurgitation.