MitraClip^® Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair

If you have significant, symptomatic, degenerative mitral valve regurgitation, and are not a good candidate for surgery, Premier Health offers a less invasive treatment option: transcatheter mitral valve repair using MitraClip^®.

MitraClip is a small clip that doctors attach to the mitral valve. Our structural heart team delivers the MitraClip to the mitral valve by gently guiding a catheter through a leg vein to the heart, instead of opening the chest for surgical repair. Once in place, MitraClip treats mitral regurgitation by allowing the mitral valve to close more completely. This helps restore normal blood flow through the heart.

Mitral regurgitation, caused by a leaky heart valve, places an extra burden on the heart and lungs. If not treated, mitral regurgitation can cause serious problems, such as heart failure, fluid buildup in the lungs, and an enlarged heart. Traditional treatments include medication and open-heart surgery to fix the mitral valve.

Benefits of MitraClip

Benefits of transcatheter mitral valve repair using MitraClip include less time in the hospital and a quicker recovery, compared to surgical mitral valve repair. During the MitraClip procedure, the patient’s heart continues beating, unlike in surgical repair, in which the heart is temporarily stopped as a heart-lung machine takes over function of the heart and lungs.

In most cases, patients experience an improvement in mitral regurgitation symptoms and quality of life soon after the MitraClip procedure.