[The best of valvular heart disease in 2004]

The year 2004 was rich in publications concerning valvular heart disease. Infectious endocarditis was the subject of guidelines on prevention, diagnosis and therapeutic management under the aegis of the European Cardiology Society. There was much study on aortic pathology: the results appear to slow the progression of the severity of aortic stenosis. Furthermore, MRI can be advocated when there is a conflict in the measurement of the aortic area in aortic stenosis as determined by non invasive methods. This year was also marked by the first experiences of transcutaneous implantation of a prosthetic aortic valve in patients considered inoperable. Mitral insufficiency has also been studied: operative indications, incidence and prognosis of early and late post-operative atrial fibrillation and the significance of ischaemic mitral insufficiency, for which the prognosis remains poor. Lastly, the diagnosis and management of prosthesis thrombosis were studied and in particular the contribution of thrombolysis. Of course, this analysis is limited, and many studies have not been included in this selection.