There is a dramatic difference between the MitraClip procedure and standard mitral valve surgery. The MitraClip procedure is a technique done to treat people with severe mitral valve regurgitation or leaking of the mitral valve who are considered higher risk for standard mitral valve surgery. The traditional treatment for this population is surgery done through a sternotomy. MitraClip is a technique done nonsurgically in the least invasive manner using a transcatheter approach through a vein in the groin.
Standard mitral valve surgery is open-heart surgery requiring the use of a heart-lung machine and three or four days in the hospital. MitraClip is a transcatheter based therapy. People would not have any scars, do not have to be on the heart-lung machine, could be transferred to step down units instead of staying in the intensive care unit and may be going home within 24 hours.
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