61-Year-old patient gets a new lease of life through complex MitraClip procedure

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Chandigarh, August 12

The Department of Cardiology at Fortis Hospital Mohali, led by Dr RK Jaswal, Senior Director and Head of Department, Cardiology, and Director of Cathlabs, successfully treated a 61-year-old patient suffering from a congenital heart abnormality and severe mitral valve leakage through a non-surgical MitraClip procedure.

The patient had Barlow Syndrome, a congenital abnormality that had resulted in severely degenerated and enlarged mitral valve leaflets, causing torrential leakage. As the mitral valve leaflets failed to close properly, blood flowed backwards into the lungs, leaving the patient with severe shortness of breath and a poor quality of life, even after routine self-care activities.

Following an assessment, Dr Jaswal found that the severely incompetent mitral valve had caused enlargement of the patient’s heart, an irregular heart rhythm and fluid congestion in the lungs due to increased back pressure.

The case presented a significant technical challenge because the mitral valve leaflets were very large, with the posterior leaflets measuring more than 10 mm. There was also a 16 mm coaptation gap when the valve closed. According to the hospital, such valve anatomy is highly challenging to treat through trans-catheter MitraClip procedures, and open-heart surgery is the only viable option in a majority of such cases.

In this case, however, the medical team led by Dr Jaswal successfully deployed two of the largest clips to repair the mitral valve and achieved a significant reduction in leakage.

The patient had a smooth post-operative recovery and was discharged three days after the procedure on 21st July, 2026.

Discussing the case, Dr Jaswal said, “Non-surgical repair of such valves is a preferred modality these days due to safety and quick recovery. However, this kind of congenital grossly deformed valves are highly challenging to be repaired without surgery.”

Dr Jaswal further said the patient had recovered and had resumed normal life activities.