Abstract

Mitral valve repair with the MitraClip

Author(s): MO Kayatta, H Jensen, M Padala, RC Gilmore & VH Thourani

Mitral valve regurgitation is a common disease, traditionally treated with valve repair or replacement using open cardiac surgery. The most common etiologies of mitral regurgitation (MR) include degenerative and functional pathologies. MitraClip® (Abbott Vascular, CA, USA), a new device for transcatheter mitral valve repair, which gained CE mark approval for use in Europe in 2008, is now approved in the USA for use in patients with symptomatic degenerative mitral valve regurgitation who are deemed to be prohibitive risk surgical candidates. For these patients, MitraClip offers a safe and effective treatment option. Currently, trials are underway to assess its efficacy in high surgical risk patients with functional MR. The data from these trials will hopefully provide guidance to physicians to determine which patients would benefit from the device and which patients would benefit from the standard surgical approach. There is evidence that the MitraClip will continue to have an important role in treating both high-risk and nonsurgical patients with degenerative and functional MR now and in the future.