What's the Buzz on Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Mitral Valve Repair in Dogs | VETgirl Veterinary Continuing Education Podcasts

Given the high incidence of myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs, especially those small dogs we all see... and the high degree of morbidity and mortality it can cause, efforts continue to focus on treatment strategies that can both delay the onset of symptomatic disease and prolong the overall survival of dogs who do develop clinical congestive heart failure.

Ultimately, all medical therapies currently employed to treat this disease can improve cardiac function and but do not address the primary underlying disease itself, namely valvular regurgitation secondary to thickening and prolapse.

Mitral valve repair is the standard of care in humans and has recently begun being performed in dogs in a limited number of veterinary institutions in Japan, Korea, Europe, and in the United States.

Although complications can occur, current success rates are reported to be high in both the short and long term.

The primary challenges with valve repair appear to be, one, the invasiveness and technical skill required to perform the procedure, which is open heart by nature.

thus requiring cardiopulmonary bypass and surgical precision.

Two, cost to the pet owner, so currently being in the $30,000 to $40,000 range.

And three, limited access to available centers performing the procedure, likely a product of numbers one and two.

Yet, we do have pet owners who ask about open-heart surgery, and so we need to know about the options that are out there.

Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair, or what we'll call TEER from now on, is a less invasive, catheter-based option to reduce valvular regurgitation in human patients with higher surgical risk profiles.

TIR has recently been explored in veterinary medicine for myxomatous mitral valve disease at a limited number of institutions.

Initial data in dogs has suggested that TIR is feasible in myxomatous mitral valve disease and can significantly reduce mitral regurgitation volume, but large-scale long-term data is lacking thus far.

Given the high incidence of myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs, especially those small dogs we all see... and the high degree of morbidity and mortality it can cause, efforts continue to focus on treatment strategies that can both delay the onset of symptomatic disease and prolong the overall survival of dogs who do develop clinical congestive heart failure.

Ultimately, all medical therapies currently employed to treat this disease can improve cardiac function and but do not address the primary underlying disease itself, namely valvular regurgitation secondary to thickening and prolapse.

Mitral valve repair is the standard of care in humans and has recently begun being performed in dogs in a limited number of veterinary institutions in Japan, Korea, Europe, and in the United States.

Although complications can occur, current success rates are reported to be high in both the short and long term.

The primary challenges with valve repair appear to be, one, the invasiveness and technical skill required to perform the procedure, which is open heart by nature.

thus requiring cardiopulmonary bypass and surgical precision.

Two, cost to the pet owner, so currently being in the $30,000 to $40,000 range.

And three, limited access to available centers performing the procedure, likely a product of numbers one and two.

Yet, we do have pet owners who ask about open-heart surgery, and so we need to know about the options that are out there.

Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair, or what we'll call TEER from now on, is a less invasive, catheter-based option to reduce valvular regurgitation in human patients with higher surgical risk profiles.

TIR has recently been explored in veterinary medicine for myxomatous mitral valve disease at a limited number of institutions.

Initial data in dogs has suggested that TIR is feasible in myxomatous mitral valve disease and can significantly reduce mitral regurgitation volume, but large-scale long-term data is lacking thus far.