[Percutaneous approach for treating mitral regurgitation with mitral clip (MitraClip)]. / Katetrizacní metoda lécby chronické mitrální regurgitace pomocí mitrální svorky (MitraClip).

Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the second most commonly encountered valvular lesion and it has been positively correlated with the subsequent development of heart failure and death. MitraClip therapy is a new percutaneous approach for treating mitral regurgitation which involves mechanical edge-to-edge coaptation of the mitral leaflets that is analogous to the surgical Alfieri technique. Indication for MitraClip in patients with severe degenerative or functional mitral regurgitation is based on clinical symptoms (NYHA II-IV) and specific anatomic criteria including a primary central regurgitant jet associated with the A2/P2 segments, in functional MR a coaptation length 2 mm, a coaptation depth 11 mm, in degenerative MR a flail gap <10 mm, and a flail width < 15 mm. Key exclusion criteria included LVEF 25%, LV end-systolic dimension > 55 mm, mitral valve orifice area < 4 cm2, recent myocardial infarction or endocarditis. The safety profile of the procedure appears to be excellent. Acute outcomes are favourable, and mid-term durability (up to 2 years) is reasonable. Patients who are older, at higher risk for surgical therapy, or with functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) and depressed ejection fractions will constitute the initial target population for MitraClip therapy. Since FMR is primarily a ventricular problem, it remains to be seen whether a leaflet intervention will have durable efficacy.

Long-term outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction presenting to hospitals without catheterization laboratory and randomized to immediate thrombolysis or interhospital transport for primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Five years' follow-up of the PRAGUE-2 Trial.

AIM: Randomized trials in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) showed improved early outcomes after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (p-PCI) compared with thrombolysis (TL). It is less known whether the early benefit is sustained during the long-term follow-up. METHODS AND RESULTS: The PRAGUE-2 trial enrolled 850 STEMI patients presenting to community hospitals without cath-labs within 12 h of symptom onset. Patients were randomized into the groups 'TL in community hospital' (n = 421) and 'interhospital transfer for p-PCI' (n = 429). Follow-up data were available in 416 (98.8%) patients in the TL group and 428 (99.8%) in the p-PCI group. At 5 year follow-up, the cumulative incidence of composite endpoint (death from any cause or recurrent infarction or stroke or revascularization) was 53% in TL patients compared with 40% in p-PCI patients (HR 1.8; 95% CI 1.38-2.33; P < 0.001). The respective cumulative incidence of death from any cause was 23 and 19% (HR 1.34; 95% CI 0.99-1.82; P = 0.06), recurrent infarction 19 vs. 12% (HR 1.72; 95% CI 1.15-2.58; P = 0.009), stroke 8 vs. 8% (HR 1.65; 95% CI 0.84-2.23; P = 0.18), revascularization 51 vs. 34% (HR 1.81; 95% CI 1.21-2.35; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The early benefit from the p-PCI strategy (over TL) is sustained during the 5 years' follow-up. It can be almost exclusively derived from differences in event rate during the first month.