Mitral regurgitation is the most common cardiac valve disease, with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is used as a promising intervention in non-surgical patients and in those with unsuitable anatomy for transcatheter edge-to-edge repair. TMVR can also be performed for inoperable or high-risk patients with degenerated or failed bioporstheses or failed repairs, or in patients with severe annular calcifications. The complex anatomy of the mitral valves makes the design of transcatheter mitral valve prostheses extremely challenging, and increases the difficulty of TMVR procedure, thus could led to non-negligible complications including periprocedural and post-procedural long-term complications. This review aims to discuss the potential TMVR-complications and measures implemented to mitigate these complications, in order to improve the prognosis of TMVR patients.
Over the past 20 years, transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair (TEER) has become an important treatment option for patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) who are at high surgical risk. Initially, several landmark clinical studies established the basis of TEER for primary and secondary MR, but they only involved clinically stable patients with appropriate mitral valve anatomy. With the increasing experience of interventional therapy, the iteration of equipment and the improvement of intraoperative imaging technology, the scope of use of TEER has been continuously expanded, and its indications have been continuously expanded to more complex mitral valve lesions and clinical situations. Therefore, in clinical practice, selecting the appropriate device according to the individual anatomical characteristics of the patient can minimize MR and complications, thereby optimizing immediate and long-term prognosis. This article mainly introduces the pathogenesis and related mechanisms of MR, the main TEER devices and their clinical evidence, the limitations of TEER, and the future development direction.
Mitral regurgitation is the most prevalent valvular heart disease, with a poor prognosis that brings a heavy burden to population health and socio-economics. Transcatheter repair is a relatively mature technique for mitral regurgitation, but is strict in anatomical screening and the reduction of regurgitation is limited. With the advance in techniques and technology, transcatheter replacement has become an attractive treatment modality for mitral regurgitation in succession to transcatheter repair. At present, several replacement devices have initiated clinical trials to establish feasibility. Early data has shown that transcatheter replacement for mitral regurgitation is safe and effective, which needs to be confirmed with larger population and longer follow-up. Besides, some technical challenges remain to be addressed, in order to increase accessibility of this innovative technology.
In recent years, transcatheter mitral valve replacement is a focused issue in the field of valve intervention, which brings hope to mitral regurgitation patients who are not suitable for surgical thoracotomy. This paper presents the case of echocardiography-guided transseptal mitral valve replacement with the HighLife system in an elderly female patient with severe mitral regurgitation who failed to respond to standard medical therapy. During the procedure, echocardiography was used to guide the wire looping, cinching, atrial septal puncture, ring closure, atrial septal balloon dilatation, prosthetic valve implantation and immediate postoperative evaluation. Echocardiography plays an important role in transseptal mitral valve replacement, which can help the procedural process and improve the safety of the procedure.
ObjectiveTo determine the clinical efficacy of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for severe aortic regurgitation (AR) combined with severe mitral regurgitation (MR). MethodsThe clinical data of 13 patients who underwent TAVR due to severe AR combined with severe MR from March 2018 to September 2021 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed, including 10 males and 3 females with a mean age of 72.54±2.35 years. The echocardiographic findings of all patients were compared preoperatively and postoperatively. ResultsSurgeries were performed successfully in all patients without intraoperative death or conversion to sternotomy. The operation time was 118.15±11.42 min, intraoperative blood loss was 100.00 (75.00, 250.00) mL, and the length of hospital stay after surgery was 9.00 (4.50, 11.00) d. The mean follow-up duration was 10.00 (6.50, 38.50) months, during which there were 2 patients with mild to moderate AR, 6 with mild AR, and 5 with no AR; meanwhile, severe MR decreased significantly (P=0.001) even without active intervention, including 4 mild to moderate MR and 9 mild MR patients. Compared to preoperative indexes, the left atrial diameter [46.00 (41.00, 52.50) mm vs. 35.00 (34.00, 41.00) mm, P<0.001], left ventricular end-systolic diameter [45.00 (36.00, 56.00) mm vs. 35.00 (28.00, 39.00) mm, P=0.002] and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (62.62±2.40 mm vs. 51.08±2.49 mm, P<0.001) showed a decreasing trend during the follow-up. ConclusionIn selected patients with severe AR combined with severe MR, TAVR alone improves AR and combined MR at the same time.
Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the most common valvular heart disease, however, majority of patients are not suitable for open heart surgery due to comorbidity such as organ and heart dysfunction. Transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair has become an effective treatment option for high-risk patients with MR. Two patients were enrolled in this study inlcuding one 60-year degenerative mitral regurgitation patient and one 72-year functional mitral regurgitation patient. Transcatheter repair procedure was successfully done for the two patients without postoperative complication.
Mitral regurgitation has high morbidity and mortality. The application of transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (TEER) has provided more options for the management of primary and secondary mitral regurgitation. With the accumulation of operator experience, the improvement of equipment, and the optimization of intraoperative imaging, TEER can be applied to more complex or critically ill patients. The incidence of TEER-related adverse events is low, but some complications that may occur are potentially dangerous. TEER-related complications and their treatment methods are the guarantee of safe and effective operation. This article discusses the main possible complications of TEER and the corresponding management strategies.
