Mitral valve surgery: current status and future prospects of the minimally invasive approach.

: During the past five years the approach to procedural planning, operative techniques and perfusion strategies for minimally invasive mitral valve surgery (MIMVS) has evolved. With the goal to provide a maximum of patient safety the procedure has been modified according to individual patient characteristics and is largely based on preoperative imaging.: In this review article we describe the important factors in image based therapy planning and simulation, different access strategies, the operative key-steps, a rationale use of devices, and highlight a few future developments in the field of MIMVS.