Incidence of intravascular hemolysis after transcatheter mitral valve repair

Abstract Background Chronic subclinical intravascular hemolysis is a common complication after valve replacement associated with worse prognosis, occurring in up to 80% of patients after mitral valve surgery. While serious intravascular hemolysis after MitraClip implantation has been reported anecdotally, data on the impact of transcatheter mitral valve repair on the prevalence of subclinical hemolysis are lacking. Methods and results From August 2017 to November 2019, 77 patients with high perioperative risk and moderate-to-severe or severe mitral regurgitation were prospectively enrolled in a single-center trial. All participants were treated with transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair using the MitraClip NT, NTR or XTR system. Before and three months after the procedure, all patients underwent comprehensive clinical assessment including laboratory measurement of hemoglobin, haptoglobin and lactic acid dehydrogenase in venous blood samples. Presence of subclinical intravascular hemolysis was defined as hemoglobin