Home > Heart Surgery Blog > Mitral Valve Repair > Heart Valve Summit Video #2: "Are Patients With A Failed Mitral Valve Repair Candidates For A MitraClip?"Asks Gayle

Heart Valve Summit Video #2: "Are Patients With A Failed Mitral Valve Repair Candidates For A MitraClip?"Asks Gayle

By Adam Pick on November 1, 2011

The possibilities of transcatheter valvular therapy are exciting. However, these minimally-invasive approaches to treating heart valve disorders are new and still without FDA approval in the United States. That said, my inbox is filled with patient and caregiver questions about devices including the CoreValve, the SAPIEN and the MitraClip.

For example, Gayle recently sent me an email asking, "Adam -- Can patients with a failed mitral valve repair be eligible candidates for the MitraClip?" At the recent Heart Valve Summit in Chicago, I asked Dr. Steven Bolling, the Director of The Mitral Valve Program at the University of Michigan, this exact question. Here are the highlights from our discussion.

Thanks to Gayle for her question and a special thanks to Dr. Steven Bolling for taking the time to speak with us and share his clinical expertise regarding the MitraClip, mitral regurgitation (MR) and mitral valve repair re-operations. To learn more about mitral regurgitation, click here.

Keep on tickin!
Adam

P.S. For those members of our community who are hearing impaired, I have provided a transcript of this video interview with Dr. Bolling below.

Adam: "Hi everybody, it's Adam and we are at the Heart Valve Summit in Chicago, Illinois. We're answering your questions that were posted at HeartValveBlog.com. Excited to be standing Dr. Steven Bolling, who is the director of The Mitral Valve Clinic at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbo. We've got a question, Dr. Bolling, from Gayle and she writes in, "Can patients, who have had a failed mitral valve repair, be an eligible candidate for the MitraClip?"

Dr. Bolling: "Well Adam, first of all thanks for having me here and Gayle that's a very interesting question. So you had a failed mitral valve repair, can you have that clipped? You know that's a very interesting option. But, it's not being done. The MitraClip is really not indicated for that right now. However, a better thing to think of, for you or for anyone who has had a failed mitral valve repair is, "Can that valve be re-repaired?". And in the vast majority of the times, it can. About 60 to 70 or even 80% of the time in an experienced surgeons hands, that valve can be re-repaired. So don't give up on the concept of ending up long term with a good mitral valve repair, just because you've had one failure."

The MitraClip For Mitral Regurgitation (Abbott Laboratories)

Adam: "Well Gayle I hope that helped you, I know it helped me. And Dr. Bolling, as always, thanks for coming by and spending some time with us. We really appreciate all you are doing here at the Heart Valve Summit to bring the cardiologists and the surgeons together to talk about heart valve treatment."

Dr. Steve Bolling: "Great. Thanks for having me."

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Written by Adam Pick
Patient & Website Founder

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

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