Mitra Clip therapy (Abbott Vascular) data published in JACC

New results for catheter-based Mitra Clip therapy, from Abbott Vascular, for Cardiac patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation (MR) who are at prohibitive risk for mitral valve surgery were presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics symposium and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Data from 127 patients with degenerative MR at prohibitive surgical risk treated with the Mitra Clip device show clinically meaningful changes to quality of life. Following Mitra Clip treatment, changes in SF-36 summary scales (a quality-of-life survey) were well above established thresholds showing minimum clinically important differences and there was a reduction in rehospitalization for heart failure of 73%.

There were also functional improvements, with 76% of patients with baseline NYHA Functional Class III improving to NYHA Functional Class I or II, and 65% of patients with baseline NYHA Functional Class IV improving to NYHA Functional Class I or II. See: "Improved Functional Status and Quality of Life in Prohibitive Surgical Risk Patients With Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation Following Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair with the MitraClip System" D. Scott Lim et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. October 2013: doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2013.10.021