Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair

We are the first provider in South Mississippi to offer a new heart procedure — MitraClip. An alternative to open heart surgery, MitraClip is a minimally invasive mitral valve repair procedure for patients with primary and secondary mitral regurgitation.

Minimally Invasive Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair (TMVR) for Mitral Regurgitation

In the past, open-heart mitral valve surgery was the only treatment option for this condition, but for some patients, due to age, advanced heart failure, or other serious medical conditions, that is not a viable option.

Nearly 1 in 10 people age 75 and older have moderate-to-severe or severe mitral regurgitation.

TMVR with MitraClip provides a less invasive treatment option for those patients who may not be eligible for traditional open-heart surgery.

About Mitral Regurgitation

Mitral regurgitation occurs when the mitral valve fails to close completely, causing blood to leak backward into the heart. Mitral regurgitation can cause complications by forcing the heart and lungs to work harder than normal, which may cause some patients to develop an enlarged heart over time.

Mitral Valve with Regurgitation

There are two types of Mitral Regurgitation:

Degenerative MR (or Primary MR)

Caused by damage to the mitral valve with prolapse or flail of the leaflets. It can be related to age, a birth defect, or underlying heart disease.

Functional MR (or Secondary MR)

Caused by enlargement of the heart due to heart attack or heart failure.

If mitral regurgitation is left untreated, more serious problems to the heart, such as heart failure and death, may occur.

About the MitraClip Procedure

During the procedure, our surgeon accesses the heart through a vein in the patient’s leg and inserts a thin wire called a catheter. The MitraClip device is implanted onto the mitral valve, clipping together a small area of the valve. While the valve continues to open and close on either side of the clip, blood flows on both sides of the clip, reducing the flow of blood in the wrong direction.

MitraClip therapy is delivered via a catheter-based approach without a median sternotomy or the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. It is the only TMVR option to treat mitral regurgitation.

About MitraClip Patients

Considerations for MitraClip candidates include:

  • Moderate-to-severe or severe mitral regurgitation
  • Symptomatic
  • Patients who are not suitable candidates for surgery (high-surgical-risk factors including age, frailty, or severe comorbidities such as liver disease and pulmonary hypertension)
  • Patients for whom surgery is not the best option

Ask For MitraClip

If you are not healthy enough to have open heart surgery but have primary or secondary mitral regurgitation, talk to your doctor about having the minimally invasive MitraClip procedure at Singing River Health System.