{"id":2264,"date":"2022-06-07T17:27:38","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T17:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/?page_id=2264"},"modified":"2025-12-05T18:29:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T18:29:57","slug":"mitraclip-indications-gerdisch","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/mitraclip-indications-gerdisch\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Will The MitraClip Help My Mom?&#8221; asks Brian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I just received a great question about the MitraClip. Brian writes to me, &#8220;Adam, my mom, who is 78-years-old, was unexpectedly diagnosed with severe mitral regurgitation. She is active but definitely slowing down. I\u2019ve been reading about the MitraClip as I\u2019d like her to avoid open heart surgery. Is the MitraClip an appropriate therapy for my mom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To help Brian answer this important question, I connected with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Marc-Gerdisch-Indianapolis-Indiana.php\">Dr. Marc Gerdisch<\/a>, the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Franciscan Health in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Gerdisch is a mitral valve expert who has performed over 4,000 heart valve operations during his career. In our community, Dr. Gerdisch has successfully treated over 120 patients including Dan Rhoden and Janelle Hurst.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JdB9fUAMT70?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Key Learnings About the MitraClip<\/h2>\n<p>Important learnings shared by Dr. Gerdisch in our interview include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There are two distinct indications for using the MitraClip for patients with leaking mitral valves.<\/li>\n<li>First, the MitraClip has been shown very effective for heart failure patients with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/enlarged-heart-what-is-it.php\">cardiomyopathy (an enlarged heart)<\/a> that causes the mitral valve to leak.\u00a0 For this type of patient, the MitraClip (i) decreases the mitral valve leak, (ii) may improve the geometry of the heart, and (iii) enhance cardiac function. As Dr. Gerdisch states, &#8220;The MitraClip has been a miracle for some of the older and especially more frail people who are experiencing heart failure because the valve leaks.&#8221;\u00a0 Dr. Gerdisch believes that if Brian&#8217;s mom has cardiomyopathy, the MitraClip could be a good treatment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/profileImages\/306_129_173.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Marc Gerdisch\" width=\"129\" height=\"173\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Marc-Gerdisch-Indianapolis-Indiana.php\">Dr. Marc Gerdisch<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Second, the MitraClip has been shown effective for patients who have a leaflet issue associated with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/mitral-valve-regurgitation-symptoms-leaking.php\">mitral regurgitation<\/a>.\u00a0 However, Dr. Gerdisch states that the use of the MitraClip for a healthy and active 78-year-old patient may be debatable.\u00a0 Dr. Gerdisch states, &#8220;The MitraClip in a 78-year-old otherwise healthy person with organic disease to the valve, in other words, the valve is regurgitant and is leaking because one of the leaflets is flail, that\u2019s a little debatable. I\u2019ll tell you the reasons why. One is, obviously, that we could do the surgery minimally-invasively with low risk. The second reason is that we could do the procedure through a small incision and recovery isn\u2019t very dramatic and usually people get through it fine. The third reason is that we don\u2019t have a lot of data on degenerative disease with the clip. We have good data, decent data. What we know is that when the anatomy is very favorable, a discrete portion of the leaflet that is flail, and it\u2019s favorable in the sense that the clip can grab it, then it\u2019s actually pretty good outcome.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2278\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/..\/Images\/mitraclip-description.webp\" alt=\"MitraClip Description\" width=\"674\" height=\"288\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Regardless of whether-or-not the MitraClip is used, the goal for the mitral valve patient and their medical team is to eliminate as much of the regurgitation as possible given the patient&#8217;s health and risk factors. As Dr. Gerdisch states, &#8220;It\u2019s important that that regurgitation be gone.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Calcification may be a key consideration for patients and medical teams as they determine if a MitraClip can be used to treat mitral regurgitation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/Images\/mitral-valve-calcification.jpg\" alt=\"Calcified MItral Valve\" width=\"250\" height=\"253\" \/>Calcified Mitral Valve<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Specific to the decision-making process among patients, families, cardiologist and surgeons, Dr. Gerdisch suggests there are several nuances to be considered. Dr. Gerdisch states, &#8220;I think there are layers of conversation that are worth having. The questions are: Is the valve leaking because of changes in the structure and function of the left ventricle and not a problem with the valve? In those cases, lean MitraClip. Is it a discrete, easy to fix lesion in somebody who you really are trying to stay away from heart surgery? It\u2019s reasonable to consider the MitraClip in that patient. Is it a complex leak that you\u2019re not sure is going to go away with one MitraClip and the patient is otherwise reasonably healthy at 78?\u00a0 Those patients need to at least be given the option to have a minimally-invasive operation to treat their mitral valve.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Dr. Gerdisch&#8217;s advice for patients and their families in a similar situation to Brian&#8217;s mom is (i) learn about the available treatment options, (ii) have detailed conversations with medical teams that specialize in mitral valve therapy, (iii) find doctors with whom you are comfortable with, (iv) realize that most mitral valve procedures are not emergencies, and (v) do everything possible to make the mitral valve operation a &#8220;one-time event&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Many Thanks Dr. Gerdisch &amp; Franciscan Health!<\/h2>\n<p>On behalf of our entire patient community, many thanks to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Marc-Gerdisch-Indianapolis-Indiana.php\">Dr. Gerdisch<\/a> for sharing his clinical experience and research with our community!\u00a0 Also, many thanks to the Franciscan Health team for taking such great care of heart valve patients.<\/p>\n<p>Related links:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2019\/01\/24\/mitraclip-coapt-patient-story\/\">MitraClip Success: Michelle Will Not Need Heart Transplant Thanks to MitraClip<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/minimally-invasive-mitral-repair\/\">Surgeon Insights: Minimally-Invasive Mitral Valve Repair Surgery<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/calcification-stroke-risk-gerdisch\/\">Stroke Risk &amp; Heart Valve Calcification: What Should You Know?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/need-for-mitral-surgery-gerdisch\/\">Surgeon Q&amp;A: Will I Need Mitral Valve Surgery?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keep on tickin!<br \/>\nAdam<\/p>\n<p>P.S. For the hearing impaired members of our patient community, I have provided a written transcript of this video below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"cms.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"class_list":["post-2264","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-mitral-valve-repair"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2264"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6353,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2264\/revisions\/6353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}