A technical review of subvalvular techniques for repair of ischaemic mitral regurgitation and their associated echocardiographic and survival outcomes

Subvalvular techniques are gaining ground as adjunct procedures for addressing ischaemic mitral regurgitation. The aim of this study was to describe the different techniques and assess their results. A systematic review of the literature was performed. The end points of interest were recurrence of mitral regurgitation, cardiac events and early and late echocardiographic measurements. After initial screening, 450 articles were identified, of which 24 provided the best available evidence on the topic. The different subvalvular techniques had similar mortality rates when compared with the standard restrictive annuloplasty. Recurrence of mitral regurgitation was of lower degree and the remodelling process was better for these techniques. Reoperation rates were also quite low. The subvalvular techniques showed superiority, addressing more successfully the leaflet tethering. However, larger randomized studies are needed to confirm these early positive results.