Percutaneous Approaches to Valve Repair for Mitral Regurgitation

Percutaneous therapy has emerged as an option for treatment of mitral regurgitation for selected, predominantly high-risk patients. Most of the percutaneous approaches are modifications of existing surgical approaches. Catheter-based devices mimic these surgical approaches with less procedural risk, due to their less-invasive nature. Percutaneous annuloplasty can be achieved indirectly via the coronary sinus or directly from retrograde left ventricular access. Catheter-based leaflet repair with the MitraClip (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois) is accomplished with an implantable clip to mimic the surgical edge-to-edge leaflet repair technique. A large experience with MitraClip has been reported, and several other percutaneous approaches have been successfully used in smaller numbers of patients to demonstrate proof of concept, whereas others have failed and are no longer under development. There is increasing experience in both trials and practice to begin to define the clinical utility of percutaneous leaflet repair, and annuloplasty approaches are undergoing significant development. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement is still in early development.