Open issues and next challenges in transcatheter mitral valve intervention

New transcatheter techniques have been recently developed to treat mitral regurgitation with less invasive approaches in high risk and elderly patients. This research is concentrated on the definition of the optimal candidate or optimal approach for some existing procedures in order to reduce invasiveness and improve outcomes (as for the MitraClip and for the paravalvular leak occlusion), as well as on the preclinical development of new approaches (as the Cardioband) and the subsequent introduction in the clinical practice, demonstrating feasibility and efficacy of this approach in the first-in-human trial. With the introduction of the mitral replacement technologies, the transcatheter mitral valve intervention, will probably be, an option for selected patients not amenable for transcatheter repair.