Topic: Current Status and Future Prospects of Percutaneous Treatment of Mitral Valve Disease: Repair vs. Replacement

Transcatheter treatment of valve disease has evolved rapidly in the last years. Aortic stenosis has been the first valve disease in which a percutaneous approach can be considered as the first choice in certain clinical conditions (high-risk patients) or as an alternative to classical cardiac surgery in others (intermediate and low-risk patients). Treatment of mitral valve disease has also been the matter of research although specific anatomical features of the mitral valve apparatus have made technical advancements in this setting more complex. After more than one decade of experience, edge-to-edge repair has emerged as the first percutaneous treatment of mitral regurgitation with clinical efficacy. In turn, percutaneous mitral replacement may represent a major breakthrough in the field but it is still in its infancy with a bunch of prototypes being tested in first-in-human studies but none in large randomized controlled trials. In this Special Issue, we will review the current status of the percutaneous repair technology with the advent of new competitors in the field. In addition, future trends in mitral valve replacement will be addressed to elucidate the potential and drawbacks of this technique.