Percutaneous Edge-to-Edge Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair: Current Indications and Future Perspectives

Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the most prevalent valvular heart disease (VHD) and represents an important cause of heart failure. Medical therapy has a limited role in improving symptoms and does not hinder the progression of valvular disease. Surgery is the treatment of choice for severe symptomatic MR; valve repair is currently the preferred surgical approach because it reduces peri-operative mortality and ensures a good medium- to long-term survival outcome. Nevertheless, a non-negligible proportion of patients with indications for surgical correction are considered to be at prohibitive perioperative risk, mainly because of old age and multiple comorbidities. The introduction of percutaneous interventions to clinical practice has changed the natural history of this population. Percutaneous edge-to-edge transcatheter mitral valve repair (Mitraclip®, Abbott Vascular, Menlo Park, CA) is a state-of-the-art therapy for approaching MR in patients with a high surgical risk. Despite having been only recently introduced, this transvenous transfemoral percutaneous intervention has already been performed in more than 40,000 subjects worldwide, with reassuring post-operative results in terms of safety, feasibility, mortality and morbidity. Since Mitraclip® is considered to be minimally invasive, it is currently indicated in "frail" patients with severe comorbidities. We provide a critical review of the literature to clarify current indications, procedural details, patient selection criteria, and future perspectives for this innovative technique.