The Mitral valve: A brief history -- Anatomical Development of the Left Atrioventricular Valvar Complex -- How should we describe the mitral valve and its component parts? -- The Anatomy of the Mitral Valve -- The surgical utility of a detailed knowledge of the basic sciences pertaining to the Mitral valve -- The atrioventricular valve in the animal kingdom -- The Atrioventricular complex: function and dysfunction -- Mitral Valve Pathology -- Morphogenetic aspects of mitral valve development -- Genetics of Mitral Valve Disease -- Genetics and Genetic Counselling relevant to Mitral Valve Prolapse -- Assessment of mitral valve function: the valve and the ventricle -- Arrhythmias in Mitral Valve Prolapse -- The organisation of specialist valve care provision.

This book provides a comprehensive review of the basic science of the mitral valve needed to begin to comprehend both normal and the failing valve. This knowledge is infrequently discussed in the clinical arena, with a rush towards definition of lesions based on limited analysis. It provides a ready single source of the most important basic science subjects pertaining to the valve, and the pathologies found therein, and thus a more complete understanding of the factors that result in dysfunction may be appreciated. Mitral Valve Disease: Basic Sciences and Current Approaches to Management includes chapters on embryology and anatomy, including details of structural, comparative and functional features. Since the valve is completely influenced by genetics and molecular biology, subjects rarely if ever addressed in the clinical arena, these topics receive in-depth attention. Coverage concludes with lengthy discussions of the importance of multi-disciplinary work, along with the importance of the electrophysiological disturbances encountered in some groups of these patients. It therefore is an essential and up-to-date resource for the practicing and trainee cardiac surgeon and any researcher working within this topic.