MitraClip implant at Apollo Hospitals saves 41-year-old farmer who waited 91 days for a heart transplant!

Apollo Hospitals, Asia’s foremost and most trusted healthcare group, today announced a successful MitraClip implant on a 41-year-old male farmer who had waited for over three months in different hospitals for a heart transplant. The patient was back on his feet within a few days after the procedure, and might not even need a heart transplant.

Ms. Preetha Reddy, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “As one of the few hospitals in India accredited to perform the MitraClip procedure, being able to save the life of a patient waiting for a heart transplant gives us the ability to offer hope to many others. Patients with severe/end-stage heart failure comprise up to 10% of patients suffering from heart disease. Research has shown that using MitraClip as a bridge to heart transplantation is safe and may even lead to functional improvements that permit patients to be removed from the transplant list. We are proud to have demonstrated this at Apollo Hospitals through the case of a 41 year old male patient who was waiting for a heart transplant for over three months. The success of this case has renewed our commitment to taking this cutting edge and revolutionary medical innovation to the people who need it the most. Also a vast majority of these cases were performed during the worst months of the second wave and this was possible only because of the stringent infection control protocol and the iron curtain that separates COVID and non-COVID patients in the hospital.”

Data from 119 patients in the International MitraBridge Registry on critically ill patients on a transplant list showed procedural success was achieved in 87.5% of cases, and 30-day survival was 100%.

Dr. Sai Satish, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals said, “The MitraClip is a small metal clip with a polyester fabric that is inserted in place to fix the leaky mitral valve thereby ensuring that the blood flow is in the right direction. It is a globally accepted procedure for patients with heart failure. Patients with moderate to severe or severe primary and secondary mitral regurgitation who are not improving on medical treatment can opt for this minimally invasive solution that offers them a vastly improved quality of life and health.”

“For three years now we have been performing this procedure on patients we think are suitable candidates and we have seen incredible results in the quality of life they are able to return to, post procedure. Our experience in this domain has enabled us to achieve many milestones including back-to-back MitraClip implants in four very sick patients in just one day earlier this year, at the height of the second wave of the pandemic. Today, we are at pole position; 70% of all MitraClips in India to date have been performed at Apollo Hospitals and we are only looking at bigger and more remarkable milestones in the journey ahead,” added Dr. Sai Satish.

MitraClip was introduced in India just three years ago. The first MitraClip was implanted in 2003 in a patient in the US. It was a game-changing procedure and was made commercially available in Europe in 2008 and in the US in 2013. Today over 100,000 patients in more than 50 countries have undergone the MitraClip procedure.

MitraClip implants give a new lease of life for frail and elderly patients who cannot go in for conventional open-heart surgery. The minimally invasive MitraClip procedure is effective in both functional and degenerative mitral regurgitation. The procedure is performed percutaneously in a cath lab and the device is removable and repositionable. These important attributes contribute to the safety of this procedure. Diligent patient selection is an important element to ensure success.

Repeat hospitalisations are avoided after the MitraClip procedure as compared to conventional surgery, making it economical in the long run and patients are able to recover and resume life in a very short span of time.”

India’s first two scientific papers on MitraClip have both been published from Apollo Hopsitals, one on the first case and the second paper on the first seven cases with a year’s follow-up showing excellent outcomes. Dr. Sai Satish of Apollo Hospitals is the only Indian author involved in the authorship of the APAC guidelines for MitraClip implants. Asia’s first MitraClip training programme that included theory and four cases over two days was also conducted at Apollo Hospitals, cementing its position as a Centre of Excellence in Interventional Cardiology.