Introduction

Some of the earliest descriptions of the mitral valve were made in the 16th century by Leonardo da Vinci. His drawings and notes, based on dissected bovine and human hearts, highlighted the complex architecture of the valve and alluded to the unknown function of the individual elements of the subvalvular apparatus.1-3 The mitral valve was named for its resemblance to a bishop’s mitre, as depicted in da Vinci’s drawings.