Mitral and tricuspid valveTripartite heart valve between the right atrium and the right ventricle. repair using the edge-to-edge procedure

For patients identified by the HEART team as being at increased surgical risk, the feasibility of a minimally invasiveThe outer or inner surface of the body is penetrated and thus injured, e.g. ultrasound is a non-invasive examination method, whereas cardiac catheterisation is an invasive one. repair procedure of the mitral or tricuspid valveValve. using implantation of a clip (TEER – transcatheter edge to edge repair) can be explored. The TEER procedure can only be offered to patients with regurgitation (leakage) of the mitral valveHeart valve between the left atrium and left ventricle. It got its name because of its shape, which has a strong resemblance to a bishop’s mitre. or tricuspid valve.

In mitral or tricuspid valve regurgitationInability of the heart valve to close. Inflammation or calcification can cause the leaflets of the heart valves to shrink, or the increase in size of the heart can cause the valve ring to widen. When closed, small gaps remain between the leaflets through which the blood flows back into the chamber., the leaflets of the heart valveIn the inflow and outflow area of the heart chambers there are valves which prevent the blood from flowing back in the wrong direction. Each heart half has a sail valve and a pocket valve: 1. Tricuspid valve (between the right atrium and right ventricle) 2. Pulmonary valve (between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery) 3. Mitral valve (between the left atrium and left ventricle) 4. Aortic valve (between the left ventricle and the aorta). do not close properly and blood flows back from the ventricleLower chamber of the heart. A healthy heart has two ventricles (right and left). into the atriumTerm for the uppermost chambers of the heart. There is a left atrium and a right atrium. The right atrium collects the oxygen-poor blood that flows back from the body to the heart; the left atrium collects the oxygen-rich blood that comes from the lungs. From the atria, the blood continues to the respective ventricles.. Patients often suffer from shortness of breath, restrictions in physical performance or swelling of the legs. In TEER procedures, a catheter system is pushed from the blood vessels in the groin to the heart and two valve leaflets are fixed together with a clip. The clip restores the valve leaflets’ ability to close.

In order to assess the feasibility of a TEER procedure, an echocardiographic examination via the oesophagus (TOE) is performed in addition to other examinations. Here, the valve leaflets and the valve characteristics are assessed. This is needed to determine the clip size and number.