ABSTRACT
The first documented mitral valve operation was performed by Elliot Cutler at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (Boston) in 1923. Cutler used a tenotomy knife to access the left ventricle and partially incised both mitral leaflets on a patient with rheumatic disease and consequent severe mitral stenosis (MS). Two years later, in 1925, Henry Souttar performed the first digital dilation of the mitral valve on a patient with a similar clinical profile at the London Hospital. Unfortunately, although successful, the procedure was not well received by the medical community due to its significant perioperative complications and the skepticism around this surgery did not trigger further referrals. In 1948, after multiple failed attempts, Charles Bailey introduced the modern era of mitral commissurotomy at the Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia. Soon after, other surgeons including Charles Dubost in Paris and Dwight Harken in Boston perfected the technique and launched mitral valve repair as a therapeutic alternative for mitral valve disease. In 1957, Walton Lillehei performed the first open mitral annuloplasty under extracorporeal circulation.
