MitraClip for Mitral Valve Insufficiency

Every day, the human heart pumps 10,000 litres of blood through our body, supplying all cells and organs with oxygen, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It also transports the unneeded carbon dioxide back into the lungs. If the inner workings of the heart do not function as usual, we notice this through symptoms such as tiredness, fatigue, dizziness and much more.

This is also the case with the mitral valve, a sail-like intermediate valve between the left atrium and the left ventricle. If the blood no longer flows in one direction here, but back into the atrium, blood flows back to the lungs: mitral valve insufficiency. Every effort becomes a challenge. Treatment becomes urgent in order not to lose years of life expectancy.

One of the leading international experts on the therapy of mitral valve insufficiency is the cardiologist Olaf Walter Franzen, MD, from Zurich. Dr Franzen specialises in the minimally invasive MitraClip procedure. Instead of the open chest, the heart is gently reached with a fine cable via a groin vein so that the mitral valves can be repaired, i.e. sewn back together with MitraClips.

Where are the mitral valves located? MitraClip or surgery? How long is the length of stay in hospital?

An informative video contribution (only german) from the Hirslanden Klinik im Park, which presents mitral valve insufficiency, catheter-based mitral valve reconstruction and MitraClips including explanations by Dr. Olaf Walter Franzen very well.

MitraClip bei Mitralklappeninsuffizienz