BACKGROUND:

For patients with functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) and symptomatic heart failure (HF), randomized trials of mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (M-TEER) have produced conflicting results.

OBJECTIVES:

This study sought to assess the impact of M-TEER on hospitalization rates, and explore the effects of M-TEER on patients who did or did not have a history of recent HF hospitalizations before undergoing M-TEER.

METHODS:

RESHAPE-HF2 (Randomized Investigation of the MitraClip Device in Heart Failure 2nd Trial in Patients with Clinically Significant Functional Mitral Regurgitation) included patients with symptomatic HF and moderate to severe FMR (mean effective regurgitant orifice area 0.25 cm2; 14% >0.40 cm2, 23% <0.20 cm2) and showed that M-TEER reduced recurrent HF hospitalizations with and without the addition of cardiovascular (CV) death and improved quality of life. We now report the results of prespecified analyses on hospitalization rates and for the subgroup of patients (n = 333) with a HF hospitalization in the 12 months before randomization.

RESULTS:

At 24 months, the time to first event of CV death or HF hospitalization (HR 0.65; 95% CI 0.49-0.85; P = 0.002), the rate of recurrent CV hospitalizations (rate ratio [RR] 0.75; 95% CI 0.57-0.99; P = 0.046), the composite rate of recurrent CV hospitalizations and all-cause mortality (RR 0.74; 95% CI 0.57-0.95; P = 0.017), and of recurrent CV death and CV hospitalizations (RR 0.76; 95% CI 0.58-0.99; P = 0.040), were all lower in the M-TEER group. The RR of recurrent hospitalizations for any cause was 0.82 (95% CI 0.63-1.07; P = 0.15) for patients in the M-TEER group vs control group patients. Patients randomized to M-TEER lost fewer days due to death or HF hospitalization (13.9% [95% CI 13.0%-14.8%] vs 17.4% [95% CI 16.4%-18.4%] of follow-up time; P < 0.0001, and 1,067 vs 1,776 total days lost; P < 0.0001). Patients randomized to M-TEER also had better NYHA functional class at 30 days and at 6, 12, and 24 months of follow-up (P < 0.0001). A history of HF hospitalizations before randomization was associated with worse outcomes and greater benefit with M-TEER on the rate of the composite of recurrent HF hospitalizations and CV death (Pinteraction = 0.03) and of recurrent HF hospitalizations within 24 months (Pinteraction = 0.06).

CONCLUSIONS:

These results indicate that a broader application of M-TEER in addition to optimal guideline-directed medical therapy should be considered among patients with symptomatic HF and moderate to severe FMR, particularly in those with a history of a recent hospitalization for HF.