Cardiac ailments affect more people than any other non-communicable disease in India. According to a study by The Lancet, cardiovascular diseases caused 28 per cent of deaths in 2016, which was double the numbers reported in 1990 when it caused 15 per cent of deaths in the country – from 1.3 million in 1990 to 2.8 million in 2016. Heart disease is a blanket term for several kinds of heart conditions. Of them, mitral regurgitation (MR), is the most common heart valve problem. The mitral valve is located between the heart’s two left chambers. It has two flaps of tissue, called leaflets, that open and close to ensure that blood flows in only one direction. When the mitral valve fails to close completely, blood leaks backward inside the heart, causing MR. About 1 in 10 people age 75 and older have MR.

Against this backdrop, Abbott, the global healthcare company, has launched its clip delivery system, a minimally invasive heart valve repair device to treat mitral regurgitation in India. This product puts new technology into the hands of physicians by giving them a life-saving treatment option that may be used for people suffering from mitral regurgitation due to a heart defect or as a result of heart failure.

This clip device repairs leaky mitral valves without open-heart surgery and is delivered to the heart through a vein in the leg. The device clips portions of the leaflets, or flaps, of the mitral valve together to reduce the backflow of blood, thereby restoring the heart’s ability to pump oxygenated blood more efficiently.  This is the first and only transcatheter mitral valve therapy with proven safety and survival, and durability of clinical outcomes.
 
Explaining the need for such technology, Dr. Sai who pioneered this treatment in India added, “Increasing life expectancy, higher incidence of hypertension, obesity and diabetes, all contribute to the staggering prevalence of about 4.6 million patients with heart failure in India alone. These patients have a poor quality of life and high mortality.  Not all patients with a leaky mitral valve are suitable for open-heart surgery due to advanced age or other co-morbidities. Till now there was little we could do for them. This procedure is a non-surgical treatment option for these patients which has been proven to dramatically reduce symptoms and improve not just their quality of life, but also survival.”

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Journal Manager
Current Trends in Cardiology
Email: cardiologyres@eclinicalsci.com