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.
Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is at present a well established interventional procedure for the treatment of mitral regurgitation (MR). Echocardiography is an essential imaging modality for peri-interventional assessment of TEER. Pre-procedural echocardiographic assessments, which include grading of MR severity, determining MR etiology and mechanisms, and analyzing mitral valve morphology, helps to determine patient eligibility and plan the procedure. Echocardiography is also indispensable in intra-procedural guidance, such as atrial septum puncture, advancing the device to the target position, and leaflets capture. In addition, echocardiography is important in immediate result evaluation, complication detection and patient follow up after the procedure.
Atrial functional mitral regurgitation (AFMR) is characterized by left atrial enlargement, without left ventricular dilation or systolic dysfunction, and with structurally normal leaflet tissue. It predominantly occurs in patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. The complex pathophysiological mechanisms involve mitral annular dilation, atriogenic leaflet tethering, and inadequate leaflet adaptation. Currently, standardized management protocols for AFMR remain lacking. Common approaches include pharmacotherapy, rhythm control, and surgical or percutaneous interventions, all requiring individualized therapeutic strategy based on etiology and clinical characteristics. This review discusses recent advances in the pathogenesis and treatment of AFMR, aiming to provide valuable insights for clinical practice and future research.
Mitral regurgitation is one of the most common valvular heart diseases, with functional mitral regurgitation being the predominant type. Ventricular functional mitral regurgitation (VFMR) occurs due to impaired left ventricular systolic function combined with left ventricular dilation, leading to mitral annular enlargement and papillary muscle displacement, which cause relative tethering of the mitral leaflets despite structurally normal valve apparatus. Patients with VFMR often present with severe heart failure, face high surgical risks, and have a poor prognosis. In recent years, mitral valve transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) has emerged as a well-established interventional technique, offering a new treatment option for VFMR patients and significantly improving clinical outcomes. This review focuses on the advances in the pathogenesis, epidemiological characteristics, diagnosis, and management of VFMR, particularly the application and efficacy-influencing factors of TEER.
Mitral regurgitation is one of the most common heart valve diseases. Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is currently the most developed and commonly used interventional technique for mitral regurgitation and is recommended by the latest European and American guidelines for patients who are at high surgical risk. TEER device usually consists of a clamping device and a delivery system. The trajectory of the clamping device is called the trajectory, and the trajectory can be well established with the five dimensions movement of the delivery system: left-right oscillation, anterior-posterior oscillation, overall parallel movement, the clamping device's own clockwise rotation, and vertical up-and-down movement. The delivery system's anteroposterior and lateral oscillations are concentrated on the virtual puncture site. Furthermore, the location of the septal puncture site has a significant impact on the establishemnt of the trajectory. The evulation of three variables and adherence to the "4M principles" are necessary for the successful TEER. The three variables are: the position of the clip in the center of the regurgitation,the arm orientation of the clip perpendicular to the boundary of anterior and posterior leaflets, as well as the appropriate length of clamping. The "4M principles" include favorable valve morphology, residual mitral regurgitation below grade 2+, mean transvalvular pressure≤5 mm Hg, and an appropriate amount of leaflets clamping. Patients' baseline situation, the degree of mitral regurgitation and ventricular remodeling, as well as the valve morphology and the outcome of the procedure, are the factors determining the prognosis of patients after TEER.
For patients with moderate-to-severe functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) who continue to experience heart failure symptoms despite optimized medical and device therapy, transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is increasingly becoming a reliable treatment option. With the continuous research and development and improvement of TEER-related devices, there are currently dozens of domestically developed TEER devices undergoing clinical trials in China. In this study, we report the first case of a patient with severe FMR treated with the X-Clip? TEER system. The patient, a 60-year-old male, suffered FMR attributed to dilated cardiomyopathy. Preoperative transthoracic echocardiography showed severe mitral regurgitation (4+). He underwent percutaneous repair using the X-Clip? system, and immediate postoperative ultrasound showed mild mitral regurgitation. At the 1-month follow-up, the patient’s symptoms and New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class improved, and a follow-up transthoracic echocardiogram showed mild mitral regurgitation (1+).
Echocardiography is an important imaging technique in mithal valve transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER). During the operation, mitral leaflets capture and clamping have the highest requirements for ultrasound image quality and should be performed under the guidance of high-quality commissural view. However, standard commissural view cannot be obtained in some patients due to cardiac enlargement, transposition or limited esophageal acoustic window. In this condition, the optimal view can be obtained by Multivue technology. This paper reports a male patient aged 67 years with successful mitral valve TEER under the real-time guidance of Multivue technology, and summarizes the key points of this technology.
Objective To summarize and analyze the preliminary clinical outcomes of the KokaclipTM transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair system for severe degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR). Methods This study was a single-arm, prospective, single-group target value clinical trial that enrolled patients who underwent the KokaclipTM transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) system for DMR in the Department of Heart Surgery of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute from June 2022 to January 2023. Differences in the grade of mitral regurgitation (MR) during the perioperative and follow-up periods were compared, and the incidences of adverse events such as all-cause death, thoracotomy conversion, reoperation, and severe recurrence of MR during the study period were investigated. Results The enrolled patient population consisted of 14 (50.0%) females with a mean age of 70.9±5.4 years. Twenty-eight (100.0%) patients were preoperatively diagnosed with typeⅡ DMR, with a prolapse width of 12.5 (11.0, 16.1) mm, a degree of regurgitation 4+ leading to pulmonary venous reflux, and a New York Heart Association cardiac function class≥Ⅲ. All patients completed the TEER procedure successfully, with immediate postoperative improvement of MR to 0, 1+, and 2+ grade in 2 (7.1%), 21 (75.0%), and 5 (17.9%) patients, respectively. Mitral valve gradient was 2.5 (2.0, 3.0) mm Hg. Deaths, thoracotomy conversion, or device complications such as unileaflet clamping, clip dislodgement, or leaflet injury were negative. Twenty-eight (100.0%) patients completed at least 3-month postoperative follow-up with a median follow-up time of 5.9 (3.6, 6.8) months, during which patients had a mean MR grade of 1.0+ (1.0+, 2.0+) grade and a significant improvement from preoperative values (P<0.001). There was no recurrence of ≥3+ regurgitation, pulmonary venous reflux, reoperation, new-onset mitral stenosis, or major adverse cardiovascular events. Twenty-two (78.6%) patients’ cardiac function improved to classⅠorⅡ. Conclusion The domestic KokaclipTM TEER system has shown excellent preliminary clinical results in selected DMR patients with a high safety profile and significant improvement in MR. Additional large sample volume, prospective, multicenter studies, and long-term follow-up are expected to validate the effectiveness of this system in the future.
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.
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.
