Lourdes Offers Breakthrough Treatment for Patients with a Leaky Heart Valve

The cardiovascular team at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center has successfully performed its first mitral valve repairs using the innovative MitraClip® procedure—a minimally invasive treatment option for people with a severe leak in the mitral valve, also known as mitral regurgitation (MR).

MitraClip is a new type of transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVr). It is currently approved for people with severe degenerative (also called primary or organic) MR, which is caused by a physical defect of the valve, and who are considered too high-risk for surgery. MR occurs when the mitral valve allows blood to leak backwards towards the left atrium and in turn into the lungs. MR affects nearly 1 in 10 people aged 75 years and older. (A study is underway on the device’s use in people with functional MR, which is caused by damage to the heart that affects the way the valve works.)

“With the MitraClip, we have the opportunity to help patients and dramatically decrease the volume of their leakage,” said Atiq Rehman, MD, FACS, Lourdes director of minimally invasive cardiac surgery and co-director for structural heart disease, who performed the first procedure on a 74-year-old man on July 10, along with interventional cardiologist Ibrahim Moussa, DO, FACC, FSCAI, RPVI, and interventional echocardiographer Geoffrey Zarrella, DO, FACC.

A second successful MitraClip procedure was performed later in July. Both patients were discharged home after just an overnight stay in the hospital.

The MitraClip looks like a miniature clothespin and is the size of a dime. To insert the device, the doctor makes a small incision in the patient's leg. A catheter guides the device up the femoral vein to the heart. It is passed through the interatrial septum and then attached to the flaps of the mitral valve to help it close more completely and restore normal blood flow.

The procedure is performed without the need to temporarily stop the heart. The cardiac team uses echocardiography, a type of ultrasound, to visualize the heart—reducing the patient's exposure to radiation.

“Because we don't open the chest or need a heart-lung bypass, patients have a reduced risk of complications and a faster return to normal activities,” said Dr. Rehman. “Patients experience improved heart function and symptoms almost immediately.”

Traditionally, surgery is the standard treatment for mitral regurgitation. However, only a fraction of candidates are offered surgery and others are turned down due to their age or the presence of other illnesses.

“Because surgery is considered too high-risk, these patients with an organic problem could only be treated with medication,” said Dr. Rehman. “Medication can help relieve symptoms but not correct the condition.”

“Our ability to perform MitraClip gives us a unique advantage to be able to serve those patients who are not surgical candidates,” said Dr. Moussa. “It complements the comprehensive array of services we offer here.”

Lourdes is a leading provider of cardiac services in the Delaware Valley, utilizing the latest robot-assisted and minimally invasive techniques and offering the most advanced technologies, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), the Watchman stroke prevention device, dissolving stents and wireless pacemakers.

At Lourdes, the MitraClip procedure is performed in its hybrid operating suite, which combines the state-of-the-art imaging capabilities of a cardiac catheterization laboratory with the environment of a traditional operating room.

“Our hybrid OR allows us to take a multidisciplinary approach, with cardiac surgeons, interventional cardiologists and electrophysiologists,” said Dr. Rehman. “We are able to perform the most advanced, minimally invasive cardiac procedures and easily convert to traditional open surgery if the need arises by simply shifting equipment at the operating table.

“Performing TAVR and MitraClip, Lourdes is positioned to be chosen among to first centers to offer other upcoming transcatheter valvular technologies, such as transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement,” he added.

About 5 million people are diagnosed with heart valve disease each year, according to the American Heart Association.

For referral to a Lourdes cardiologist, call 1-888-LOURDES (1-888-568-7337) or visit www.lourdesnet.org.

About MitraClip® NT

The MitraClip® NT Clip Delivery System is indicated for the percutaneous reduction of significant symptomatic mitral regurgitation (MR >3+) due to primary abnormality of the mitral apparatus [degenerative MR] in patients who have been determined to be at prohibitive risk for mitral valve surgery by a heart team, which includes a cardiac surgeon experienced in mitral valve surgery and a cardiologist experienced in mitral valve disease, and in whom existing comorbidities would not preclude the expected benefit from reduction of the mitral regurgitation. More information, including important safety information, can be found at www.mitraclip.com.