transcatheter mitral repair

Imagine two flaps of a swinging door that no longer meet in the middle, so air keeps leaking back through the gap; a small clip pinches their edges together so they seal better. Transcatheter mitral repair places such a clip on a leaky mitral valve using a catheter, reducing the backward leak without open-heart surgery.

The mitral valve sits between the left atrium and left ventricle; when its leaflets fail to close tightly, blood leaks backward (mitral regurgitation), straining the heart and lungs. In this procedure a catheter is guided through a vein and across into the left heart, and a clip grasps the middle of the two leaflets, drawing them together at that point so they coapt better and the leak is reduced. The technique is often called edge-to-edge repair.

It is offered chiefly to patients with significant mitral regurgitation who are at high risk for conventional surgery, and is most established for certain anatomies and for leakage related to a weakened, dilated ventricle. It usually reduces rather than abolishes the leak, and is not suitable for every valve; careful imaging selects who is likely to benefit.