3D printing from transesophageal echocardiography for planning mitral paravalvular leak closure - feasibility study

Transcatheter closure of paravalvular leak (PVL) is still a demanding procedure due to the complex anatomy of PVL channels and risk of interference between the implanted occluder and surrounding structures. Efforts are made to improve procedural outcomes in transcatheter structural heart interventions by establishing treatment strategy in advance with the use of 3D-printed physical models based on data obtained from cardiac computed tomography (CT) studies.

In this feasibility study 3D printing of PVL models based on data recorded during transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) examinations was evaluated.

3D-TEE data of patients with significant PVL around mitral valve prostheses were used to prepare 3D models. QLab software was used to export DICOM images in Cartesian DICOM format of each PVL with the surrounding tissue. Image segmentation was performed in Slicer, a free, open-source software package used for imaging research. Models were printed to actual size with the Polyjet printer with a transparent, rigid material. We measured dimensions of PVLs both in TEE recordings and printed 3D models. The results were correlated with sizes of occluding devices used to close the defects.

In 7 out of 8 patients, there was concordance between procedurally implanted occluders and pre-procedurally matched closing devices based on 3D-printed models.

3D-printing from 3D-TEE is technically feasible. Both shape and location of PVLs are preserved during model preparation and printing. It remains to be tested whether 3D printing would improve outcomes of percutaneous PVL closure.