A staging classification of right heart remodelling for patients undergoing transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair.

BACKGROUND

In patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) who are scheduled for transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR), risk stratification is predominantly based on surgical risk scores.

AIMS: We sought to characterise and define stages of right heart remodelling in patients undergoing TMVR and evaluate the impact of this staging classification on survival.

METHODS

According to echocardiographic parameters, 929 patients undergoing MitraClip treatment were classified into three stages: severe MR without right heart damage (stage 0), with moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) (stage 1), with right ventricular dysfunction defined as a reduced fractional area change <35% and a tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion <17 mm, or with increased right atrial area >25 cm2 and/or indexed right ventricular volume >30 ml/m2 (stage 2). We compared clinical outcomes and performed a multivariate analysis to evaluate the predictive value of the extent of cardiac damage.

RESULTS

Rates of one-year all-cause mortality increased with more advanced stages of right heart remodelling (stage 0: 8% vs stage 1: 9.7% vs stage 2: 18.1%; p<0.001). In the multivariate analysis, advanced cardiac damage was an independent predictor of one-year all-cause mortality (stage 2: p=0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

A simple staging classification objectively characterises the extent of right heart remodelling caused by MR and allows risk prediction in patients undergoing a MitraClip procedure.