Transcatheter mitral valve implantation (old)

Introduction

In recent years, transcatheter mitral repair procedures have emerged as an alternative therapeutic option to treat inoperable and high-risk surgical patients. Currently, the device with the widest clinical use is the MitraClip System (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA, USA), which has been proved to be a safe and effective tool to treat high-risk patients with both degenerative (DMR) and functional (FMR) mitral regurgitation (MR) . Other technologies, including chordal repair and annuloplasty, are emerging which will enrich the toolbox to repair the mitral valve with a transcatheter approach, and will make percutaneous approaches competitive with surgical repair 33. Maisano F, Taramasso M, Nickenig G, Hammerstingl C, Vahanian A, Messika-Zeitoun D, Baldus S, Huntgeburth M, Alfieri O, Colombo A, La Canna G, Agricola E, Zuber M, Tanner FC, Topilsky Y, Kreidel F, Kuck KH. Cardioband, a transcatheter surgical-like direct mitral valve annuloplasty system: early results of the feasibility trial. Eur Heart J. 2016;37:817-25. Link.

However, although transcatheter repair has been associated with clinical improvement in different clinical settings, it is technically demanding and is associated with a 10-20% rate of persistent or recurrent MR >2+ after one year in different series, especially in the early experiences, largely...