Surgical management of valvular heart disease

The term ‘valvular heart disease’ incorporates a wide range of conditions. The gold-standard diagnostic techniques, the natural history, and the interventional, as well as surgical, techniques which are available for treatment should be known by the clinician. The surgical management of valvular heart disease involves a series of operations and techniques. The aim of this review is to describe valvular pathology and the available surgical techniques.