The team at MassDevice.com and Drug Delivery Business News will be updating this post periodically as news comes out of ACC 2017, the annual American College of Cardiology meeting in Washington March 17-19.

Abbott touts reduced HF rehospitalizations in MitraClip study

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) released 1-year outcomes from the largest study to-date of real-world experiences for its MitraClip system in transcatheter mitral valve repair procedures in the US at the ACC 2017 annual meeting.

The Abbott Park, Ill.-based company’s MitraClip was designed to treat patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation who were not eligible for surgery to repair or replace the mitral valve.

In the study, data from approximately 3,000 DMR patients was analyzed following implantation of the Mitraclip.

Results indicated that 92.8% of patients achieved post-procedural mitral regurgitation severity grades of less than or equal to 2, with 80% of patients remaining free from heart failure rehospitalization for a year after implantation. A total of 85.9% of patients treated were discharged after an average hospital stay of only 2 days, Abbott said.

“The consistent 1-year results seen in this study validate that treatment with MitraClip can provide meaningful reduction in the severity of mitral regurgitation. The consistency of data over time in this large patient registry underscore the valuable impact MitraClip has on the overall health of very sick people living with this silent killer,” principal investigator Dr. Paul Sorajja of the Minneaplis Heart Institute, who presented the study at ACC 2017, said in a prepared statement.

“Abbott’s goal is to improve health, and our MitraClip therapy provides a much-needed solution for gravely ill people who have very few options. The consistency in data across multiple trials reinforce the nearly immediate impact that MitraClip has on people’s quality of life, allowing them to lead fuller, longer lives,” Abbott structural heart biz GM Michael Dale said in a press release.