Book excerpt: This full-color atlas with accompanying video DVD provides a complete and practical "how-to" guide to planning and performing mitral valve repair surgery for mitral regurgitation. The book reviews the natural history of mitral regurgitation, the functional anatomy of the mitral valve, and the use of echocardiography in preoperative evaluation and surgical planning. Chapters describe and illustrate all techniques currently used for mitral valve repair and discuss results. A bound-in DVD presents narrated video clips of six cases that show the application of specific techniques. Each case begins with preoperative echocardiograms demonstrating the mitral valve defect and proceeds through key surgical maneuvers.