Surgery for Mitral Valve Endocarditis with Focus on Repair and Reconstruction

Mitral valve infective endocarditis (MVIE) remains a life-threatening condition when untreated, and surgical outcomes for these patients remain worse than for patients with aortic valve endocarditis. Mitral valve repair is the preferred approach to surgical treatment of MVIE over valve replacement due to its proven long-term advantages especially in the parallel field of degenerative mitral valve disease. Despite these findings, concerns over repair durability have limited the use of valve repair. Surgeons have a myriad of repair techniques at their disposal, and, with thorough preoperative evaluation, should pursue valve repair whenever feasible. Recent trends in our surgical experience with MVIE support the application of mitral valve repair in this setting, owed to better overall survival and excellent repair durability.