Current devices and interventions in mitral regurgitation

Mitral Valve Repair of the Anterior Leaflet: Are We There Yet?

Mitral regurgitation is one of the most prevalent valvulopathies with a disease burden that incurs significant healthcare costs globally. Surgical repair of the posterior mitral valve leaflet is a standard treatment, but approaches for repairing the anterior mitral valve leaflet are not widely established. Since anterior leaflet involvement is less common and more difficult to repair, fewer studies have investigated its natural history and treatment options. In this review, we discuss surgical techniques for repairing the anterior leaflet and their outcomes, including survival, reoperation, and recurrence of regurgitation. We show that most patients with mitral regurgitation from the anterior leaflet can be repaired with good outcomes if performed at centers with expertise. Additionally, equal consideration for early repair should be given to patients with mitral regurgitation from both anterior and posterior pathology. However, more studies to better evaluate the efficacy and safety of anterior mitral valve leaflet repair are needed.

Transcatheter mitral valve implantation with Tendyne System Ten Years since the First In-Human Implant A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) using the Tendyne™ valve is regarded as one of the most studied TMVR systems. The first human experience with the procedure was reported in 2013. The present study aims to systemically revise the published literature to document the global experience with TMVR using the Tendyne™ valve.

METHODS

The present review was conducted in line with the PRISMA statement on systematic reviews. Database included in the search process were Scopus, Web of Science and Pubmed. Search was processed using multiple keywords combinations and was adjusted to English literature only.

RESULTS

We included 26 articles in the final analysis reporting data from 319 patients. Patients recruited by the included studies comprised 192 males (60.2%) and 127 females (39.8%). In the studied patients, mitral annular calcification (MAC) was reported in 107 patients (33.5%). Preoperatively, MR grades 1,2 and 3-4 were reported in 3,5 and 307 patients respectively. Postoperatively, MR grades 1, 2 and 4 were reported in only 12, 3 and 1 patients respectively. Technical success was achieved in 309 patients (96.9%). Follow up durations widely varied among different studies from just days before discharge to 6 years. At the end of follow up, 79 patients died (24.8%) including 52 patients (16.3%) due to cardiovascular causes.

CONCLUSIONS

Management of mitral valve disease using the Tendyne system appears to be a promising minimally invasive option for many high-risk patients with accepted procedural feasibility and safety profile.

Contemporary Treatment and Outcomes of High Surgical Risk Mitral Regurgitation

Before the development of transcatheter interventions, patients with mitral regurgitation (MR) and high surgical risk were often conservatively treated and subject to poor prognoses. We aimed to assess the therapeutic approaches and outcomes in the contemporary era. The study participants were consecutive high-risk MR patients from April 2019 to October 2021. Among the 305 patients analyzed, 274 (89.8%) underwent mitral valve interventions, whereas 31 (10.2%) received medical therapy alone. Of the interventions, transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral repair (TEER) was the most frequent (82.0% of overall), followed by transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) (4.6%). In patients treated with medical therapy alone, non-optimal morphologies for TEER and TMVR were shown in 87.1% and 65.0%, respectively. Patients undergoing mitral valve interventions experienced less frequent heart failure (HF) rehospitalization compared to those with medical therapy alone (18.2% vs. 42.0%, p < 0.01). Mitral valve intervention was associated with a lower risk of HF rehospitalization (HR 0.36 [0.18-0.74]) and an improved New York Heart Association class (p < 0.01). Most high-risk MR patients can be treated with mitral valve interventions. However, approximately 10% remained on medical therapy alone and were considered as unsuitable for current transcatheter technologies. Mitral valve intervention was associated with a lower risk of HF rehospitalization and improved functional status.

[Mitral valve: When conservative, when surgical, when interventional therapy?]

The management of severe symptomatic mitral regurgitation is in contrast to the aortic-valve-intervention more challenging due to the complex mitral-valve anatomy. In primary mitral regurgitation surgical therapy is recommended, whereas there are various therapeutic options in secondary mitral regurgitation. Besides the established mitral-valve Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge-Repair (M-TEER) and the interventional annuloplasty - devices dynamic developments have recently been made in the field of Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement-therapy (TMVR). This article surveys the current recommendations and available therapeutic options in mitral regurgitation.

Clinical Impact of Computational Heart Valve Models

This paper provides a review of engineering applications and computational methods used to analyze the dynamics of heart valve closures in healthy and diseased states. Computational methods are a cost-effective tool that can be used to evaluate the flow parameters of heart valves. Valve repair and replacement have long-term stability and biocompatibility issues, highlighting the need for a more robust method for resolving valvular disease. For example, while fluid-structure interaction analyses are still scarcely utilized to study aortic valves, computational fluid dynamics is used to assess the effect of different aortic valve morphologies on velocity profiles, flow patterns, helicity, wall shear stress, and oscillatory shear index in the thoracic aorta. It has been analyzed that computational flow dynamic analyses can be integrated with other methods to create a superior, more compatible method of understanding risk and compatibility.