EDITORIAL Mitral valve surgery in the elderly: new insights and unanswered questions

This editorial refers to ‘A propensity score-adjusted retro-spective comparison of early and mid-term results of mitral valve repair versus replacement in octogenarians’, by J. Chikwe et al. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehq331 A growing problem searching for solutions Mitral regurgitation (MR) in the elderly population is expected to become a relevant health problem in the future, considering the constantly increasing ageing of the population and the rapid incre-ment of the prevalence of heart failure. According to recent data, moderate or severe MR is present in 10 % of the general popu-lation above 75 years of age.1 Conversely, the Euro Heart Survey shows that only a minority of elderly symptomatic patients with severe MR are referred for surgical treatment, since the operative risk is considered too high and the benefit of surgery has not bee