Mitral Valve Repair Fellowship
Summary
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Application Dates
1st March – 1st May 2025
- Grant
€3,750
- Location
San Raffaele Heart Valve Centre, Milan, Italy
- Duration
2 weeks
- Start Date
From January 2026
Fellowship Overview
This Fellowship offers a 2-week full immersion in a high volume centre with long-standing experience in mitral valve repair. We provide the opportunity to join our daily multidisciplinary Heart Team meetings to discuss complex cases, and to attend our operating rooms. Clinical practice routinely takes place from Monday to Friday, with 4 to 6 surgical cases daily and 4-5 transcatheter procedures 2-3 days/week. For FFF candidates, individual case discussion with expert surgeon and imagers will be also available daily.
Learning Objectives
- Indication and timing of mitral surgery to correct severe mitral regurgitation
- Knowledge of the main mitral valve repair techniques
- Knowledge of different available surgical approaches
- Troubleshooting of the most common valve-related and approach-related complications
Specific Learning Objectives
- Mastering tips and tricks to perform an effective durable repair
- Identify the most effective repair technique in each proposed anatomical setting
- Learning cornerstone of minimally invasive and endoscopic approaches
Syllabus
- Indications to mitral valve surgery and why mitral valve repair, when feasible, is a better option if compared with mitral valve replacement: a deep dive into 2021 ESC/EACTS guidelines for valvular heart disease
- Pre-operative planning: trans-esophageal echocardiography for cardiac surgeons
- Pre-operative planning: the role of cardiac CT scan in patients undergoing minimally invasive mitral valve repair
- Pre-operative planning: the adjunctive role of other techniques (MRI, stress echocardiography…) in selected contexts
- Surgical pitfalls in mitral valve repair
- How to perform the intra-operative mitral valve analysis
- Tips and tricks of mitral valve annuloplasty
- How to deal with posterior leaflet pathology
- Resect (quadrangular/triangular resection) vs respect approach
- Techniques to decrease posterior leaflet height (sliding vs folding vs butterfly)
- How to deal with anterior leaflet pathology: neochordal implantation vs edge to edge technique
- The challenges of bileaflet prolapse and how to deal with it
- Bailout techniques in case of persistent mitral regurgitation after mitral valve repair
- Systolic anterior motion (SAM) of anterior mitral leaflet:
– Pre-operative risk factors
– How to prevent SAM during mitral valve repair
– How to treat post-operative SAM (conservative measures vs second pump run) - The effects of mitral valve surgery on ventricular arrhythmias in patients with Barlow’s disease: how to recognize, risk-stratify and treat patients at increased arrhythmic risk
Funding
To help with living and travel costs associated with this Fellowship, we offer a grant of €3,750. EACTS will also provide a bursary towards the cost of your attendance at the 2026 EACTS Annual Meeting.
Application and Selection
In order to apply for this fellowship there are some essential criteria you must meet:
- The applicant should be a trainee in the last 2 years of training who demonstrates an in depth understanding of general cardiothoracic surgery
- Be an EACTS member with up-to-date membership payment
- Be fluent in English
Applicants who possess the following desirable criteria would be of particular interest:
- A highly motivated individual who has engaged with EACTS and demonstrates potential that will be useful in his institutional and wider practice
In order to complete your application, you must submit the following documents*:
- Letter of support from applicant’s home institution
- Letter of interest (detailing how you are able to apply the skills and knowledge obtained during the Fellowship in your own centre)
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Operative experience
*Please ensure that all documents submitted are written in English, and that they are submitted either as word documents or PDF. We do not accept images or handwritten applications. We are unable to provide advice or guidance about visa applications, so please ensure that you understand the visa requirements before applying for this Fellowship.
Evaluation and Feedback
Written feedback with a structured evaluation of learning activities to the participating leaders.
At the end of the Fellowship, the Fellows will produce a full report on their experience based on the Francis Fontan Fund Committee guidelines.
Terms and Conditions
- You cannot apply for more than one fellowship in a single year.
- You cannot apply for a fellowship within two years of completing an awarded fellowship.
- If you do not submit all requested documents your application will not be reviewed.
- If you do not follow the application guidelines (document format, essential criteria etc) your application will not be reviewed.
- If you submit any false information your application will be immediately void (regardless of application stage).
- Once your fellowship start date is confirmed, 80% of the fellowship grant will be transferred to you.
- On completion of the fellowship and receipt of your final report, the remaining 20% of the fellowship grant will be transferred to you.
- Should your fellowship include third party fees, EACTS will pay this directly from your initial 80% grant payment, with the remaining balance being transferred to you.
- If for any reason you find you are unable to complete or attend training, you should notify EACTS at your earliest convenience. If the grant payment has already been made, you will be asked to repay the monies received based on incurred costs to date. Proof of expenses will be required.
- EACTS will also help provide a bursary towards the cost of your attendance at the 2026 EACTS Annual Meeting.
The Francis Fontan Fellowship programme fosters the continued growth and development of cardiothoracic surgeons by providing opportunities to learn from the highest standards of cardiothoracic care and gain knowledge of novel techniques and innovative technologies used by other institutes around the world. Successful applicants will use the valuable learnings and collaborative relationships developed through their Fellowship to further the progress of cardiothoracic surgery at their home institution and support the delivery of the highest quality patient care.
- The fellowship needs to be completed within the year that it was awarded.
- Awardees need to be in full time employment throughout the fellowship.
NB. The Francis Fontan Fund Committee will consider any fellow who falls outside of this condition on a case-by-case basis. All decisions are final, and the Committee are not obliged to share the reasoning behind any decision made.
- Grant