Hospitalizations and Mortality in Patients With Secondary Mitral Regurgitation and Heart Failure

BACKGROUND The impact of transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) on the rate and prognostic impact of hospitalizations in patients with heart failure (HF) and severe secondary mitral regurgitation is unknown. OBJECTIVES This study sought to evaluate the effect of the MitraClip percutaneous edge-to edge repair system on fatal and nonfatal hospitalizations and their relationship with mortality in the COAPT (Cardiovascular Outcomes Assessment of the MitraClip Percutaneous Therapy for Heart Failure Patients With Functional Mitral Regurgitation) trial. METHODS Patients with HF (n = 614) with severe secondary mitral regurgitation were randomized to TEER plus guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) versus GDMT alone. Hospitalizations were classified as fatal if death occurred during that hospitalization or nonfatal if the patient was discharged alive. RESULTS At 2 years, TEER treatment, compared with GDMT alone, resulted in lower time-to-first-event rates of any heart failure hospitalization (HFH) (34.8% vs 56.4%; HR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.39-0.66) and fatal HFH (6.5% vs 12.6%; HR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.26-0.85). TEER also resulted in lower rates of all-cause nonfatal and fatal hospitalizations. During the 2-year follow-up period, patients who underwent TEER spent an average of 2 more months alive and out of the hospital than did patients treated with GDMT alone (581 ± 27 days vs 519 ± 26 days; P = 0.002). All HFHs (adjusted HR: 6.37; 95% CI: 4.63-8.78) and nonfatal HFHs (adjusted HR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.27-2.49) were consistently independently associated with increased 2-year mortality in both the TEER and GDMT groups (Pinteraction = 0.34 and 0.39, respectively). CONCLUSIONS In the COAPT trial, compared with GDMT alone, patients with HF and severe secondary mitral regurgitation undergoing TEER with the percutaneous edge-to edge repair system had lower 2-year rates of fatal and nonfatal all-cause hospitalizations and HFH and spent more time alive and out of the hospital. HFHs were strongly associated with mortality, irrespective of treatment. (Cardiovascular Outcomes Assessment of the MitraClip Percutaneous Therapy for Heart Failure Patients With Functional Mitral Regurgitation The COAPT Trial and COAPT CAS COAPT; NCT01626079).