International Roundtable: Mitral Valve Repair for Rheumatic Mitral Valve Disease

Intraoperative anatomy-pathologic features in rheumatic heart disease (which is quite virulence in adolescence population) take many forms. I agree that transesophageal 3-D echo aids surgeon to delineate intraoperative strategy. Current development in MRI hopefully will do better. I presented Asian first mitral valve repair technique in Singapore's ACTSA meeting in 1986, when transesophageal echo was not available; and, in my opinion the crux of the problem is at annulus integrity. In any case, this is very stimulating discussion on the new intraoperative diagnostic technology which make mitral valve repair in rheumatic valve disease yields positive results. I would be more interesting to hear long term "evidence-base" results from this participating experts.