title: Percutaneous mitral valve repair in high-risk patients: initial experience with the Mitraclip system in Belgium.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Treatment with percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (Mitraclip) has recently been recommended as an alternative to conventional mitral valve repair for high surgical risk patients with symptomatic severe mitral regurgitation (MR). In this study, we report the first use of Mitraclip therapy in Belgium.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This prospective registry includes 41 consecutive patients treated with the Mitraclip in two Belgian centres from October 2010 to June 2013. Acute procedural success, in-hospital safety end points and clinical status were analysed on an intention-to-treat basis up to one year after the procedure. In addition, determinants of major adverse cardiac events (MACE, death, surgical mitral valve intervention, and rehospitalization for heart failure) were analysed. Acute procedural success (successful clip placement and reduction of colour Doppler flow MR to < or = 2) was obtained in 32 patients (78%) and 18 of these patients received two clips. The primary safety end point was reached in 36 pts (88%): one patient died due to intracranial bleeding, there were three urgent surgical interventions and one severe access site bleeding. The MACE rate after one year was 41% (17 patients). There were 11 deaths (27%), six surgical interventions (15%) and 10 rehospitalizations for heart failure (24%). Additional subgroup analysis revealed that the one-year MACE rate was particularly high in patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 25%: 62% vs. 36% in patients with LVEF > or = 5% (P = 0.05). At one year, MR < or = 2+ and NYHA class < or = 2 was present in 83% of the surviving patients
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In high-risk patients with functional MR, treatment with the Mitraclip-device is a feasible and safe option resulting in improvement of MR severity and clinical symptoms. However, as MACE is high in some subgroups (e.g. LVEF < 25%), careful patient selection is crucial to ensure the maximum benefit from this new technique.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vandendriessche
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kotrc
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tijskens
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bartunek
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delesie
authors.forename: Bernard P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Paelinck
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Bock
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Penicka
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stockman
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Maeyer
authors.forename: Christiaan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vrints
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vanderheyden
authors.forename: Marc J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Claeys
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001530:Belgium; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis / Q000639:trends*; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D058386:Mitral Valve Annuloplasty / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D020379:Risk Adjustment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013318:Stroke Volume; D016896:Treatment Outcome