Journal and News Scan

Abbott announced that its fourth-generation MitraClip device, MitraClip G4, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on July 15, 2019, to treat mitral regurgitation (MR) in a wider population of patients.  The MitraClip G4 include new clip sizes and an enhanced leaflet grasping feature

1. More flexibility with four unique clip sizes, including clips with a wider grasping area to provide additional treatment options
2. Independently controlled grippers that better help with the grasp of one or both mitral leaflets during transcatheter mitral valve interventions
3. Upgraded MitraClip catheter can be integrated with a commercially available pressure monitor to continuously track and confirm MR reduction during the implant procedure

Investigators reported the distribution of thoracic aortic growth in smokers based on longitudinal data of current and ex-smokers aged 50-70 years from the Danish Lung Cancer Screening Trial. Mean and 95th percentile of annual aortic growth of the ascending aortic and descending aortic diameters were calculated with the first and last noncontrast computed tomography scans during follow-up.

A total of 1,987 participants (56% male, mean age 57.4 ± 4.8 years) were included and followed for a median of 48 months. The ascending and descending aortic growth was approximately 0.1 mm/year and consistent with growth in the general population. The 95th percentile ranged from 0.42 to 0.47 mm/year, depending on sex and location. Larger aortic growth was associated with lower age, increased height, absence of medication for hypertension or hypercholesterolemia, and lower Agatston scores.

Later this year, AATS will launch two new open access journals, JTCVS Open and JTCVS Techniques, to provide authors with additional options to publish high-quality information of importance to thoracic and cardiovascular surgeons.

Hamandi and colleagues reviewed outcomes for 95 patients who underwent isolated tricuspid valve (TV) surgery between 2007 and 2017 at their institution. For 41% of patients, the procedure was reoperative, following either prior coronary artery bypass grafting or prior valve surgery. Valve repair was performed in over 70% of patients. Operative mortality was low, being 3.2% overall and with no mortality in the last 6 years studied (73 patients). The authors conclude that careful patient selection and current periprocedural management have improved morbidity and mortality of isolated TV surgery, and they suggest that these outcomes can serve as a benchmark for catheter-based TV interventions.