Contemporary Management of Secondary Mitral Regurgitation

[Conservative treatment of valvular heart disease in adults]

Currently, there is no specific medication approved for the treatment of valvular heart disease per se. Except for secondary mitral valve insufficiency and tricuspid valve insufficiency in pulmonary hypertension, drug therapy for higher-grade valvular heart disease is limited to diuretic therapy for symptom control. Conservative therapy for comorbidities and potential heart failure can be beneficial regardless of the specific valve lesion. In cases of aortic valve stenosis or insufficiency, controlling arterial hypertension is important. Patients with mitral valve stenosis benefit from rhythm and rate control. Diuretics can help reduce regurgitant volume in patients with primary mitral valve insufficiency and tricuspid valve insufficiency. In addition to drug therapy, maintaining functional capacity is crucial for the outcome of patients. Therefore, it is recommended to engage in active physical activity whenever possible, despite the presence of valvular heart disease.

Trends in Isolated Mitral Valve Repair or Replacement Surgery in Australia: A Statewide Cohort Linkage Study

BACKGROUND

Global trends in mitral valve surgery (MVSx) suggest increasing repair compared with replacement, especially in the United States and European countries. The relative use, and outcomes of, MV repair and replacement in Australia are unknown.

METHODS

New South Wales residents who underwent isolated MVSx between 2001 and 2017 were identified from the Admitted-Patient-Data-Collection database. Mortality outcomes were tracked to 31 Dec 2018 and adjusted based on age, sex, urgency of operation, and comorbidity status.

RESULTS

The study cohort comprised 5,693 patients: 2020 (35%) underwent repair (MVr), 1,656 (29%) underwent mechanical replacement (mech.MVR), and 2017 (35%) underwent bioprosthetic replacement (bio.MVR). Respective median ages [interquartile range] were 67 yo [59-75 yo], 64 yo [55-71 yo], and 75 yo [68-80 yo] (p<0.001 across groups). Between 2001 and 2017, total MVSx increased steadily with population growth. Whereas the relative use of MVr remained static (34% to 38%), that for bio.MVR (22% to 50%) and mech.MVR (45% to 13%) changed significantly. MVr had the best outcome with 1.2% in-hospital, 2.5% 1-year, and 21.6% total cumulative mortality during a median follow-up of 6.5 years. Compared to MVr, the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for mech.MVR and bio.MVR for long-term mortality were 1.41 (95% confidence interval [CI]=1.24-1.61) and 1.73 (95% CI=1.53-1.95), respectively. Heart failure and sepsis were the main cardiovascular and noncardiovascular causes of death in all groups.

CONCLUSION

In this statewide Australian cohort examined over 17 years, MVr is potentially underutilised despite having superior outcomes to MVR. Access to quality dataset which provides the indication for MVSx and quantitative clinical factors is critical to further improve MVr coverage and outcome MVSx.

All-Cause Mortality in Ischemic Heart Failure Patients with Functional Mitral Regurgitation Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

This study aimed to evaluate the association between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) treatment and all-cause mortality in patients with ischemic heart failure with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and functional mitral regurgitation (FMR). We included 1,483 patients of which 39.5% (n = 586) had moderate-to-severe FMR. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was used to assess the association between PCI treatment and all-cause mortality. Furthermore, propensity score matching was used to account for nonrandom treatment assignment. In those with none-to-mild FMR, after a median follow-up of 3.1 years, the cumulative rate of all-cause mortality between the PCI and non-PCI groups was comparable (10.1% vs 14.2%), with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.731 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.438 to 1.221, p = 0.232). In those with moderate-to-severe FMR, after a median follow-up of 2.9 years, the cumulative rate of all-cause mortality was lower in the PCI group (20.4% vs 31.6%), with an adjusted HR of 0.660 (95% CI 0.469 to 0.929, p = 0.017). The result was confirmed with propensity matching (HR 0.596 and 95% CI 0.363 to 0.977, p = 0.038). The mortality benefit associated with PCI treatment in patients with moderate-to-severe FMR was consistent regardless of the age, gender, reason for admission, presence of diabetes mellitus, left ventricular ejection fraction value, left main and 3-vessels disease. In conclusion, in patients with ischemic heart failure with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and moderate-to-severe FMR, PCI treatment was associated with improvement in all-cause mortality. Randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm the current results.

Surgery for heart failure: Treatment options and implications

Heart failure is considered one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Over the years, etiological risk factors, diagnostic criteria, and classifications have been revised to create guide management needed to alleviate the global health burden caused by heart failure. Pharmacological treatments have progressed over time but are insufficient in reducing mortality. This leads to many patients developing advanced heart failure who will require surgical intervention often in the form of the gold standard, a heart transplant. However, the number of patients requiring a transplant far exceeds the number of donors. Other surgical inventions have been utilized, yet the rate of patients being diagnosed with heart failure is still increasing. Future developments in the surgical field of heart failure include the 77SyncCardia and atrial shunting but long-term clinical trials involving larger cohorts of patients have not yet taken place to view how effective these approaches can be.