Letters to the Editors: Mitral valve leaflet strain imaging with echocardiography opens new windows to mitral valve study

The mitral valve (MV) is a complex anatomical structure consisting of two leaflets, an annulus, chordae tendinae, and papillary muscles. Elucidation of the role of each component and their interactions is critical to improving our understanding of MV function, and to form the developmental basis of new surgical strategies/techniques, so it needs a complete understanding of normal MV dynamics. In addition, repair of the posterior leaflet has been highly successful, while repair of the anterior leaflet has not demonstrated the same level of success due to anatomical complexities of the anterior leaflet (1). It may show some understanding importance of biomechanical behaviors of native MV tissues. The quantification of the mechanical properties of native MV tissues can be used to develop constitutive models, which can be applied to numerical simulations and optimization strategies for repair techniques.