Evaluation of Changes in the Cardiac Function before and after Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Mitral Valve Repair in Healthy Dogs: Conventional and Novel Echocardiography

Mitral valve regurgitation is a common canine heart disease. Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER) is a transcatheter, edge-to-edge mitral repair device that uses a hybrid approach. No detailed information has been published on the hemodynamic effect of TEER on cardiac function. The aim of this report is to provide a longitudinal observation of the cardiac functional changes observed after TEER implantation in normal dogs using traditional, two-dimensional speckle tracking, and color M-mode echocardiographic methods. In the current report, TEER was implanted into two healthy dogs under general anesthesia. An echocardiographic examination was performed at baseline and weekly postoperative follow-ups were conducted until the fourth week. Successful TEER implantation was achieved with a short operation time (98 and 63 min) in the two dogs. Functional mitral valve regurgitation, elevated E/e' ratio, elevated radial strain, and stable intraventricular pressure gradients (IVPG) were observed after the operation in the dogs. Mild non progressive mitral valve stenosis was observed in both dogs. TEER is a minimally invasive method for mitral valve surgery that necessitates more clinical trials. With longitudinal observation of heart function using novel approaches, better outcomes will be expected.