Innovative Technique to Treat Mitral Regurgitation
MitraClip is one of the ways the highly skilled cardiologists at Loyola Medicine treat high-risk patients with mitral regurgitation (MR). A mitral clip, produced commercially as the MitraClip system, is a device recently approved by the FDA that cinches mitral valve leaflets together, improving mitral insufficiency and enabling patients to get relief from debilitating heart valve disease symptoms.
Your mitral valve is located between your heart’s two left chambers and allows blood to flow forward through your heart producing a normal heartbeat. If your mitral valve fails to close properly, your blood will flow in the opposite direction. This backward flow, or leaky heart valve, burdens your heart and can cause life-threatening conditions such as heart failure.
Loyola is a high-volume center that performs complex and high-risk valve repairs, with excellent results in improving heart valve function. If you have severe mitral regurgitation and risk factors prevent open surgery, Loyola’s multidisciplinary team of experts can evaluate your condition and determine whether the MitraClip system is right for you.
Why Choose Loyola for MitraClip?
Loyola’s state-of-the-art Valve Center offers patients a full range of treatments for diseased heart valves. In our clinic, each heart valve patient sees a surgeon and an interventional cardiologist on the same day. Our team of experts will work together to determine the safest, most effective and least invasive treatment option that is right for you.
While most patients require cardiac surgery, a growing number of high-risk patients qualify for less-invasive procedures such as MitraClip.
What to Expect with MitraClip Procedure
Percutaneous mitral valve repair is expanding treatment options for patients suffering from the debilitating symptoms of mitral regurgitation (MR).
MitraClip is the world's first percutaneous mitral valve repair therapy available, providing an option for select patients with MR. Delivered under general anesthesia through a vein in your leg, MitraClip is a minimally invasive alternative to open cardiac surgery.
The MitraClip procedure is performed under general anesthesia and takes three to four hours. Your Loyola interventional cardiologist will make a small incision in a blood vessel in your leg (the femoral vein). A catheter holding the MitraClip device will be guided through the femoral vein to the affected area of the heart. Once it is securely attached to the leaflets of the mitral valve, the catheter is removed.
After your procedure, you will stay in the hospital for two to three days to be monitored. You will undergo some additional testing prior to leaving the hospital and may be prescribed blood thinners.
Risks of Mitraclip
Doctors at Loyola work to mitigate the risks associated with surgical repair of your heart valves. However, as with any surgical procedure there are potential risks, which may include:
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Atrial fibrillation
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Blood clots
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Heart or blood vessel injury
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High or low blood pressure
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Infection
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Kidney dysfunction
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Reaction to anesthesia
