Mitral valve repair available in Europe but still in clinical trial in the United States. It is a highly specialized technique only available at select hospitals. Early trial results suggest that it may be a beneficial approach for patients who are at high risk from conventional surgery. As early as January 2000 a team of doctors at the "Instituto de Cardiología y Cirugía Cardiovascular" in La Habana, Cuba have performed beating heart mitral valve repair or replacement. The beating heart mitral valve replacement technique is as safe as the arrested heart technique, and is the recommended alternative to arrested heart technique. The analogy
Mitral insufficiency MR and mitral valve prolapse are also common in Ehlers–Danlos syndromes. Secondary mitral insufficiency is due to the dilatation of the left ventricle that causes stretching of the mitral valve annulus and displacement of the papillary muscles. This dilatation of the left ventricle can be due to any cause of dilated cardiomyopathy including aortic insufficiency, nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, and Noncompaction cardiomyopathy. Because the papillary muscles, chordae, and valve leaflets are usually normal in such conditions, it is also called functional mitral insufficiency. Acute MR is most often caused by endocarditis, mainly "S. aureus". Rupture or dysfunction of the papillary muscle