Just four days after surgery, Dr. David Adams examines a patient who underwent aortic valve repair surgery.

As cardiac surgery has become progressively safer over the past decade, the emphasis on “mortality rate” as a marker of quality has shifted towards a better understanding of morbidities and other measure of outcomes. This is particularly relevant to mitral valve surgery for degenerative disease, especially in the context of early intervention in asymptomatic patients. Mortality rates and major morbidities rates such as stroke and mediastinal infection must be low to consider surgery in asymptomatic patients. Other parameters that should be considered as outcomes specific to degenerative mitral valve surgery include mitral valve repair vs. replacement rates, and the impact and incidence residual or recurrent mitral regurgitation following mitral valve repair.