Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) may successfully treat mitral regurgitation in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), according to findings recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Advances.
“The feasibility of TEER in [cardiac amyloidosis] was demonstrated with a 100% procedural success rate and satisfactory outcome,” the authors wrote.
Mitral regurgitation is a heart disorder that occurs when a valve on the left side of the heart cannot close completely, causing blood to leak backward. It is the most common heart valve condition, and is often found in patients with cardiac amyloidosis.
Although mitral regurgitation can be treated with surgical valve repair or replacement, this carries risks for patients with ATTR-CM. Therefore, the study’s authors sought to assess whether TEER, a less invasive technique that involves clipping the mitral valve to help reduce blood leakage, can be used safely in patients with cardiac amyloidosis.
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The study included 27 patients with cardiac amyloidosis, 23 of whom had ATTR-CM. An additional 81 individuals without cardiac amyloidosis who had heart failure and underwent TEER were included as a control group. Participants had a median age of 79 years.
Following TEER, both the patients with cardiac amyloidosis and the controls saw improvements in New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Classification, which measures symptom burden. Mitral regurgitation was also significantly reduced in both groups.
“We did not observe deaths, neurological events, myocardial infarction, or technical failure complications after intervention,” the authors added.
The study also followed participants long-term for a median of 318 days. During this time, two patients with cardiac amyloidosis (7.4%) and four controls (4.9%) died.
The authors recommended that future studies include additional measures, such as questionnaires, to evaluate changes in symptoms or quality of life following TEER.
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