Functional or secondary tricuspid regurgitation (STR) is the most frequent etiology of tricuspid valve pathology in Western countries. Surgical tricuspid repair has been avoided for years, because of ...the misconception that tricuspid regurgitation should disappear once the primary left-sided problem is treated; this results in a large number of untreated patients with STR. Over the past few years, many investigators have reported evidence in favor of a more aggressive surgical approach to STR. Consequently, interest has been growing in the physiopathology and treatment of STR. The purpose of this review is to explore the anatomical basis, pathophysiology, therapeutic approach, and future perspectives with regard to the management of STR.
Abstract Objective The study objective was to assess the impact on follow-up outcomes of residual mitral regurgitation 2+ in comparison with ≤1+ after MitraClip (Abbott Vascular Inc, Santa Clara, ...Calif) repair. Methods We compared the outcomes of mitral regurgitation 2+ and mitral regurgitation ≤1+ groups among a population of 223 consecutive patients with acute residual mitral regurgitation ≤2+ who underwent MitraClip implantation at San Raffaele Scientific Institute (Milan, Italy) between October 2008 and December 2014. Results Residual mitral regurgitation 2+ was found in 64 patients (28.7%). Overall actuarial survival was 63.1% ± 4.4% at 48 months. Cumulative incidence functions of cardiac death in patients with mitral regurgitation 2+ was significantly higher (Gray test P < .001) compared with the mitral regurgitation ≤1+ group. The adjusted hazard ratio was 5.28 (95% confidence interval, 2.41-11.56, P < .001). Cumulative incidence function of mitral regurgitation ≥3+ recurrence in patients with residual mitral regurgitation ≤1+ and mitral regurgitation 2+ at 48 months was 13.3% ± 3.8% and 45.2% ± 6.8%, respectively (Gray test P < .001). Multivariate model showed that mitral regurgitation 2+ was the only factor associated with the development of mitral regurgitation ≥3+ at follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio, 6.71; 95% confidence interval, 3.48-12.90; P < .001). Mitral regurgitation cause was not associated with cardiac death and recurrence of mitral regurgitation ≥3+ at follow-up. No relationship between New York Heart Association class and follow-up time after MitraClip implant was found (odds ratio, 1.07; 95% confidence interval, 0.98-1.15; P = .11), and factors related to postoperative New York Heart Association also included residual mitral regurgitation 2+ ( P = .07). Conclusions Residual 2+ mitral regurgitation after MitraClip implantation was associated with worse follow-up outcomes compared with ≤1+ mitral regurgitation, including survival, symptom relief, and mitral regurgitation recurrence. Better efficacy should be pursued by transcatheter mitral repair technologies.
Blood motion in the heart features vortices that accompany the redirection of jet flows towards the outlet tracks. Vortices have a crucial role in fluid dynamics. The stability of cardiac vorticity ...is vital to the dynamic balance between rotating blood and myocardial tissue and to the development of cardiac dysfunction. Moreover, vortex dynamics immediately reflect physiological changes to the surrounding system, and can provide early indications of long-term outcome. However, the pathophysiological relevance of cardiac fluid dynamics is still unknown. We postulate that maladaptive intracardiac vortex dynamics might modulate the progressive remodelling of the left ventricle towards heart failure. The evaluation of blood flow presents a new paradigm in cardiac function analysis, with the potential for sensitive risk identification of cardiac abnormalities. Description of cardiac flow patterns after surgery or device therapy provides an intrinsic qualitative evaluation of therapeutic procedures, and could enable early risk stratification of patients vulnerable to adverse cardiac remodelling.
Objectives The aim of this study is to report the long-term outcomes (median follow-up time, 7 years; range, 1 month to 14 years) of patients who underwent surgery for paravalvular leak in our ...single-center experience. Methods From October 2000 to November 2007, 122 consecutive patients underwent surgery for symptomatic paravalvular leak (40 patients with aortic paravalvular leak; 82 with mitral paravalvular leak). In 7 patients (5.7%, all mitral), surgery was performed on the beating heart through a right thoracotomy. In 35% of patients, multiple paravalvular leaks were present. Results The mean age of patients was 62 ± 11 years, and European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation II was 7.2% ± 6%. Most of the patients were in New York Heart Association functional class III or IV (60%). Symptomatic hemolysis was present in 31% of the patients, and 41% of the patients had more than 1 previous cardiac operation. Paravalvular leak repair was feasible in 79 patients (65%), whereas in 43 patients (35%) prosthesis re-replacement was required. Thirty-day mortality was 10.7% (13/122 patients; 5% for aortic paravalvular leak and 13% for mitral paravalvular leak; P = .1); 2 patients (1.6%) with residual severe mitral paravalvular leak underwent successful redo surgery before discharge. Median length of stay was 7 days. Overall actuarial survival was 39% ± 6% at 12 years; freedom from cardiac death was 54% ± 7% at 12 years. Only 1 patient underwent redo surgery during follow-up. Multivariable analysis identified preoperative chronic renal failure (hazard ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-4.9; P = .03) and more than 1 previous cardiac reoperation (hazard ratio, 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-4; P = .03) as independent predictors of death at follow-up. Conclusions The operative mortality of surgical treatment of paravalvular leak is still high. Long-term outcomes remain suboptimal in these challenging patients, especially in the presence of multiple previous cardiac operations and associated co-pathologies. These results support the importance of alternative therapeutic options.
Abstract
Aims
The Cardioband™ (Edwards Lifesciences) is a transcatheter implant designed to reduce mitral annulus size and mitral regurgitation (MR) severity. We report the 1-year outcomes of ...consecutive patients who underwent the Cardioband procedure between 2013 and 2016.
Methods and results
Sixty patients with moderate or severe secondary MR (72 ± 7 years, 60% ischaemic origin) on guideline-recommended medical therapy were treated and analyzed at 11 European institutions. There were two in-hospital deaths (none device-related), one stroke, two coronary artery complications, and one tamponade. Anchor disengagement, observed in 10 patients (all but one in the first half of the population), resulted in device inefficacy in five patients and led to device modification half way through the study to mitigate this issue. Technical, device, and procedural successes, assessed based on Mitral Valve Academic Research Consortium (MVARC) criteria, were 97% (58/60), 72% (43/60), and 68% (41/60), respectively. At 1-year, overall survival, survival free of readmission for heart failure, and survival free of reintervention (performed in seven patients) were 87%, 66%, and 78%, respectively. In the overall population, MR grade at 12 months was moderate or less 61% and moderate or less in 95% of the 39 patients who underwent a transthoracic echocardiography at 1-year but worsened by at least one grade in 11 patients (22%). Functional status (79% vs. 14% in New York Heart Association Class I/II), quality of life (−19 points on the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire score), and exercise capacity (+58 m by 6MWT) improved significantly (all P < 0.01).
Conclusion
In this multicentre trial, the Cardioband mitral system demonstrated reasonable performance and safety. At 1 year, most patients had moderate or less MR and experienced significant functional improvements. A randomized controlled trial is underway to demonstrate the impact of Cardioband in patients on guideline-directed medical therapy.
Abstract
Objective To assess the very long-term clinical and echocardiographic results of the edge-to-edge repair for mitral regurgitation (MR) due to isolated prolapse or flail of the anterior leaflet. ...Methods From 1991 to 2004, 139 patients (age, 54 ± 14.4 years; left ventricular ejection fraction 56% ± 7.8%, New York Heart Association class I-II in 68.9%, atrial fibrillation in 20.1%) with severe degenerative MR due to isolated segmental prolapse or flail of the anterior leaflet were treated with the EE technique combined with annuloplasty. MR had resulted from prolapse or flail of the central scallop of the anterior leaflet (A2) in 105 patients (75.5%) and scallops A1 or A3 in 34 (24.4%). Results No hospital deaths occurred. At hospital discharge, MR was absent or mild in 130 patients (93.5%) and moderate (2+/4+) in 9 (6.4%). The clinical and echocardiographic follow-up data were 97.1% complete (mean length, 11.5 ± 3.73 years; median, 11; longest duration, 21.5). At 17 years, the actuarial survival was 72.4% ± 7.89%, freedom from cardiac death was 90.8% ± 4.77%, and freedom from reoperation was 89.6% ± 2.74%. At the last echocardiographic examination, recurrence of MR grade ≥3+ was documented in 17 patients (17 of 135, 12.5%). Freedom from MR grade ≥3+ at 17 years was 80.2% ± 5.86%. At multivariate analysis, the predictors of MR recurrence grade ≥3+ were residual MR greater than mild at hospital discharge (hazard ratio, 7.4; 95% confidence interval, 2.5-21.2; P = .0001) and the use of posterior pericardial rather than prosthetic ring annuloplasty, which was very close to statistical significance (hazard ratio, 2.8; 95% confidence interval, 0.9-8.7; P = .06). Conclusions In patients with MR due to segmental anterior leaflet prolapse, the very long-term results of the edge-to-edge repair combined with annuloplasty were excellent.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: A single MitraClip implant is often considered enough to achieve adequate mitral regurgitation (MR) reduction. The aim of this study was to compare MR recurrence in patients with ...an initial optimal result treated with a single clip versus those treated with two clips.
METHODS: From October 2008 to May 2016, 322 patients were treated with the MitraClip procedure at our institution. We retrospectively selected all patients treated for functional MR (FMR) and degenerative MR (DMR) aetiologies with residual MR ≤1+, excluding patients who required >2 clips. FMR and DMR were analysed separately.
RESULTS: In FMR, a single clip was used in 45 patients and 2 clips in 99 patients. The single clip group had smaller coaptation depth (1.1 ± 0.3 vs 1.3 ± 0.3 mm, P = 0.022) and jet extension (10.5 ± 2.1 vs 13.0 ± 3.6 mm, P = 0.026) as well as left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (64.4 ± 7.3 vs 69.0 ± 7.9 mm, P = 0.001). Freedom from MR ≥ 3+ after 4 years was 71.9 ± 8.9% in patients receiving a single clip vs 88.0 ± 5.2% in those receiving 2 clips, single clip use being an independent predictor of MR recurrence (HR 3.48, CI 1.24–9.81, P = 0.018). In DMR, a single clip was deployed in 24 patients and 2 clips in 30 patients. The single clip group had a smaller flail gap (3.6 ± 0.7 vs 6.8 ± 2.5, P = 0.002). Freedom from MR ≥ 3+ after 2 years was 82.5 ± 8% in patients with a single clip vs 100% in those with 2 clips, P = 0.014. The residual mitral area was reduced in patients with 2 clips compared with those with single clip, both in FMR (P = 0.015) and DMR (P = 0.039), but it was not associated with increased death rate during the follow-up period (all P > 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Despite favourable anatomical characteristics and an optimal initial result, implantation of a single clip was associated with an increased recurrence of MR compared with that of 2 clips, both in FMR and in DMR. Caution should be exercised with the implantation of a single clip.
•Meal-related hemodynamics favors obstruction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC).•Unawareness of meal-related fluctuant obstruction may be clinically confounding.•Postprandial echocardiography may ...elicit obstruction in over fasting stressors.•Workup should include postprandial re-test echocardiography for HC phenotyping.•Postprandial echocardiography phenotyping may be relevant in targeting HC therapy.
Dynamic left ventricular (LV) obstruction has important clinical and therapeutic implications in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC). Although absent at rest, LV obstruction may be elicited using varying stressors. Meal-related hemodynamic changes may favor LV obstruction and support postprandial (PP) symptoms in HC patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate PP-LV obstruction inducibility in HC patients in comparison with fasting Valsalva maneuver and exercise test. Ninety-two HC patients without LV obstruction underwent at-rest Transthoracic Echocardiography (TTE) during Valsalva maneuver and exercise test under fasting condition followed by at-rest re-test PP-TTE 30 to 60 minutes after a standardized midday meal. LV obstruction was noted and classified as being related to systolic anterior motion (SAM) of the mitral valve (SAM-related) and/or non-SAM-related (mid-cavity or apical), and intraventricular gradient was measured. At-rest re-test PP-TTE showed significant intraventricular gradient (>30 mm Hg) in 68 patients (60 SAM-related, 8 non-SAM related, 30 combined) with a higher prevalence (74%) of HC phenotype re-classified as obstructive compared with the fasting Valsalva maneuver (23%) or exercise test (33%) (p < 0.001). At multivariate analysis, a clinical history of PP symptoms and mitral anterior leaflet length and/or LV outflow ratio >2 were independently correlated with PP-TTE obstruction. In conclusion, PP TTE re-test is a simple and effective approach to unmask latent LV dynamic obstruction in daily clinical practice over fasting Valsalva maneuver or exercise test. PP clinical phenotype refinement may be relevant in targeting and evaluating HC therapy.
Cardioband system is a direct annuloplasty adjustable device that is implanted in the beating heart on the posterior annulus under fluoroscopic and transoesophageal echocardiographic (TEE) guidance. ...We report the early (1 month) outcomes of the first-in-man pre-CE-mark feasibility and safety trial.
The study enrolled high-risk adult individuals at five institutions in Europe with symptomatic secondary mitral regurgitation (MR) despite optimal medical therapy. The primary efficacy endpoints included the technical success rate of implantation, feasibility of the Cardioband adjustment (technical performance), and ability to reduce the annular septolateral dimension and MR grade at hospital discharge and at 30 days. The study group included 31 consecutively enrolled high-risk patients with moderate-to-severe or severe secondary MR with at least 1 month of follow-up (mean age 71.8 ± 6.9 years). All patients received the full implant of a Cardioband. Adjustment of the Cardioband resulted in a significant reduction in the septolateral dimension in all but two patients (septolateral dimension from 36.8 ± 4.8 to 29 ± 5.5 mm after the procedure, P < 0.01). Following Cardioband adjustment (29 of 31 patients) MR was none or trace in 6 (21%), mild in 21 (72%), and moderate in 2 (7%). No patient had severe MR after adjustment. Procedural mortality was zero and in-hospital mortality was 6.5% (2 of 31 patients, neither procedure- nor device-related). At 30 days, 22 of the 25 patients (88%) had MR ≤2+.
This study demonstrates the feasibility and safety of percutaneous direct mitral annuloplasty with the Cardioband device in high-risk patients with MR.
Background The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of reverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling after effective mitral valve repair in advanced dilated cardiomyopathy and its impact on ...clinical outcome and repair durability. Methods Of 111 patients undergoing mitral valve repair in ischemic or idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, 79 patients with no or trivial residual mitral regurgitation (MR) at discharge and with a follow-up length of at least 6 months were included in this study. Preoperatively they had 3 to 4+ functional MR, an ejection fraction of 0.28 ± 0.055, an indexed LV end-diastolic volume of 113 ± 33.0 mL/m2 , an indexed LV end-systolic volume of 80.8 ± 26.3 mL/m2 , a tenting area of 2.7 ± 0.9 cm2 , and a coaptation depth of 1.1 ± 0.3 cm. Sixty-three patients (79.8%) were in New York Heart Association class III or IV. A complete, rigid or semirigid undersized ring annuloplasty (with or without “edge-to-edge”) was used. Concomitant procedures were coronary artery bypass grafting (49 of 79 patients, 62%), tricuspid valve repair (11 of 79 patients, 13.9%), and ablation of permanent atrial fibrillation (13 of 79 patients, 16.4%). Results At a mean follow-up of 2 ± 1.3 years (median, 1.8 years), LV reverse remodeling was documented in 41 patients (51.8%), whereas in 38 patients (48.1%) LV dimensions remained unchanged or increased compared with preoperative values. The persistence or progression of LV remodeling paralleled the recurrence of MR and worsening of symptoms. Recurrence of MR of 3+ or greater was 0% in the “reverse remodeling” group and 18.4% in the “no reverse remodeling” one ( p = 0.008). At 3 years, freedom from recurrence of MR of 2+ or greater was 74% ± 11.7% and 62% ± 9.2% ( p = 0.004) and New York Heart Association class was 1.5 ± 0.61 and 2 ± 0.72 ( p < 0.0001), respectively. Predictors of reverse remodeling were ischemic etiology ( p = 0.04), concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting ( p = 0.02), successful ablation of atrial fibrillation ( p = 0.05), and shorter history of congestive heart failure ( p = 0.06). The use of the edge-to-edge showed a trend toward favoring reverse remodeling compared with isolated annuloplasty ( p = 0.08). Conclusions In patients with functional MR undergoing effective repair, the occurrence of reverse LV remodeling is associated with longer repair durability and a better clinical outcome compared with those with persistence or progression of the remodeling process.
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