Tricuspid Leaflet Gap-Reduction Maneuvers During Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Repair.

Transcatheter tricuspid valve edge-to-edge repair (T-TEER) has emerged as an option for treating patients with tricuspid regurgitation. Few studies have explored intraprocedural maneuvers to optimize leaflet-grasping T-TEER in order to improve technical success. This case series of 3 patients describes maneuvers that facilitated T-TEER in patients with large coaptation gaps or short leaflet lengths. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).

Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement With Novel Self-Expanding Valve: Secure Fixation in Insecure Anatomy.

Current transcatheter tricuspid therapies vary by design with different mechanisms of fixation, anchoring, and therapy. This is the first published report of transfemoral tricuspid valve replacement with the Intrepid device, a valve designed to anchor from annular perimeter oversizing, to treat torrential tricuspid regurgitation from leaflet impingement secondary to a ventricular septal defect occluder. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).

Severe mitral regurgitation in nonagenarians: Impact of symptomatic status, frailty and etiology on management and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Data regarding mitral regurgitation (MR) in extremely elderly patients are limited. The aim of the present study was to assess symptomatic status, frailty, etiology and outcomes for nonagenarians with severe MR. METHODS: Single-center cohort study of patients ≥90 years of age with at least 3+ MR on echocardiography between September 2010 and August 2018. Out of a total of 11,998 patients with at least 3+ MR, 267 patients were included in the present study. RESULTS: The average age was 93.5 ± 2.6 years, and 57% were female. At baseline, 88% were symptomatic, with mean Charlson co-morbidity index of 6 ± 2 points, and mean frailty score of 2.9 ± 1.4 points. Primary MR was present in 50%, secondary in 47%, and prosthetic valve dysfunction in 3%. Among patients with primary MR, the most common etiology was mitral annular calcification (58%). In comparison, the most common etiology of secondary MR was atrial functional MR (52%). Of all, 95% were treated conservatively, and 5% underwent interventional management. Among 253 patients who had follow-up data with a median follow-up of 14 months (25th-75th interquartile range: 3-31 months), 191 patients (75%) died. Mortality trended higher in the conservative group versus the interventional group (60% vs. 22%, log-rank P = 0.063). CONCLUSIONS: Most nonagenarians with significant MR were symptomatic at presentation, had elevated Charlson co-morbidity index and frailty scores. Etiologies of MR were almost equally distributed between primary and secondary causes. The vast majority of nonagenarians with significant MR were conservatively managed.

Outcomes of contemporary imaging-guided management of sinus of Valsalva aneurysms.

BACKGROUND: Sinus of Valsalva aneurysms (SVAs) are rare. We assessed the role of multimodality imaging in guiding the contemporary management. METHODS: A single-center retrospective cohort study over a 20-year period was performed. RESULTS: Between January 1997 and June 2017, 103 patients were diagnosed with SVAs (median age: 58 years). Eighty patients presented with non-ruptured SVAs, and 23 with ruptured SVAs. Seventy-six patients underwent surgery, and 27 were conservatively managed. The median durations of follow-up were: 48 months (surgical group) vs. 37.5 months (conservative group). There was no mortality directly attributable to SVA surgery. There were no late complications in the conservative group. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was the first-line imaging investigation (100.0% in surgical group vs. 92.6% in conservative group, P=0.019). Additional imaging studies included: (I) transesophageal echocardiography (TEE): 93.4% in surgical group vs. 22.2% in conservative group, P<0.001; (II) multi-detector cardiac computed tomography (MDCT): 61.8% in surgical group vs. 37.0% in conservative group, P=0.041; (III) cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR): 22.4% in surgical group vs. 14.8% in conservative group, P=0.579. At diagnosis, SVA diameters were: TTE: 4.80 cm (range, 3.30 cm); TEE: 5.40 cm (range, 4.00 cm); MDCT: 5.20 cm (range, 3.90 cm); CMR: 4.80 cm (range, 3.70 cm). CONCLUSIONS: In a 20-year cohort, proper selection for surgery and conservative management resulted in excellent outcomes for SVAs. TTE was the first-line imaging investigation for assessment of SVAs, although many patients underwent an additional imaging investigation. The contemporary outcomes of imaging-guided SVA management were excellent.

Unrecognized Cardiac Amyloidosis at the Time of Mitral Valve Surgery: Incidence and Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: It is increasingly recognized that cardiac amyloidosis can occur in patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing both surgical and transcatheter valve replacements. We aimed to investigate whether unrecognized cardiac amyloidosis may also occur in patients with severe mitral valve disease undergoing surgery. METHODS: The pathology department database at our center was retrospectively analyzed over a 10-year period for cases in which the mitral valve or another type of cardiac tissue removed at the time of mitral surgery demonstrated incidental amyloidosis. Clinical and echocardiographic variables were collected from the electronic medical record and the echocardiographic database. RESULTS: Between 2007 and 2016, a total of 7,733 mitral valve surgical specimens were received. Of these, there were 15 cases in which the mitral valve, or another type of cardiac tissue removed at surgery, demonstrated incidentally detected amyloidosis. The most frequent comorbidities were hypertension (87%) and atrial fibrillation (80%); 13 patients (87%) underwent bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement, and 2 patients (13%) underwent mitral valve repair. Sites of amyloid deposition were the mitral valve (80%), left atrial appendage (33%), and subaortic tissue (7%); 14 patients (93%) had wild-type transthyretin amyloid. The mean duration of follow-up was 1,023 days (range: 29-2,811 days). There were no surgical complications in the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Over a 10-year period, incidentally detected cardiac amyloidosis occurred in 0.2% of the mitral valve surgical cases. The outcomes for these patients undergoing mitral valve surgery were excellent, with no complications or deaths attributable to surgery at a mean follow-up of 1,023 days.