Tag Archives: mitral valve

Introduction Timely corrective surgery for severe mitral regurgitation (MR) reduces the risk of limiting symptoms and irreversible left ventricular dysfunction.1,2 Left untreated, severe MR carries a poor prognosis. In asymptomatic patients, the estimated five-year rates of death from any cause, death from cardiac causes and adverse cardiac events (death, heart failure or new atrial fibrillation), are 22%, 14% and 33%, respectively.2 The prognosis for symptomatic patients is significantly worse, and further adversely affected by older age and comorbidities, including atrial fibrillation, pulmonary hypertension, left atrial dilatation, and re

Background Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is a percutaneous catheter-based technique that aims to replicate the Alfieri stitch, a surgical technique in which a suture is applied at the site of the regurgitant jet between the facing free margins of the anterior and posterior leaflets of the mitral valve (MV), creating a double orifice valve without residual prolapse of one or both leaflets. After a 10-year wait for funding, TEER has now finally become widely available across the National Health Service (NHS). This article will provide an overview of the TEER procedure, describe currently available technology, and outline who and how

WOEST: aspirin not required for stent patients on oral anticoagulants  A strategy of using clopidogrel as a single antiplatelet drug for patients receiving a drug-eluting stent who are also taking an oral anticoagulant appears safe and can reduce bleeding, the results of the WOEST study suggest. How to treat patients on anticoagulation when they receive a stent is fraught with difficulty as giving the normal dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel means they will be taking three anti-clotting agents which could increase bleeding complications to a dangerous level. But no randomised clinical trials have ever investigated whethe

Case report Figure 1. Echocardiogram showing dilated left atrium A female patient was admitted to our unit after the second repair of her mitral valve, with breathlessness and hoarseness about 10 days after the operation. Prior to the last revision she was in left ventricular failure due to severe paravalvular mitral regurgitation and, despite severe pulmonary hypertension and dilated left atrium (figure 1), she did not have any vocal symptoms prior to the operation. Ear, nose and throat examination revealed left vocal cord palsy with normal pharynx and larynx. During her stay her voice steadily improved. Discussion Cases have been reported s

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