Percutaneous Edge-to-edge Repair in Congenital Heart Disease: Preliminary Results of a Promising New Technique

Percutaneous edge-to-edge repair has become a valid technique for symptomatic mitral and tricuspid regurgitation in patients with acquired cardiopathies deemed ineligible for surgery. In congenital heart disease (CHD) and more specifically in systemic right ventricle atrioventricular valve regurgitation, it has a pivotal role in the disease course, functional prognosis, systemic ventricular function, and mortality. While medical therapy is not unequivocally effective, surgery (valve repair or replacement) involves discrepant long-term results that depend mainly on pre-operative systemic ventricular function; it can be too risky for patients who have undergone previous open-heart surgery and have other comorbidities. Many case reports of patients with CHD and atrioventricular regurgitation repaired percutaneously have been published. This technique seems safe and yields short-term clinical and hemodynamic improvements. The specifics of each patient's complex anatomy must be considered carefully pre-operatively, and more research is needed to assess the long-term outcomes and precise eligibility criteria.