Researchers today reported on a study of Abbott‘s (NYSE:ABT) MitraClip in patients with implanted cardiac rhythm devices showing a 50% overall reduction in ventricular tachyarrhythmias.
Presented at the annual Heart Rhythm Society meeting in Boston, the study followed 50 patients with existing cardiac devices before and after they received the MitraClip, which is designed to repair leaky mitral valves.
The study monitored the frequency of VTs over 20 months. Of the 50 patients, only 18 recorded VT events. A total of 98 VT events were recorded, 68 before the MitraClip procedure and 30 after.
“We can show that the MitraClip therapy results in a significant reduction in ventricular arrhythmia burden, especially in ICD patients,” Dr. Cathrin Theis, said in presenting the data today.
Theis said there was also a large reduction in significant, longer-lasting VTs as well, with 46 occurring pre-procedure and 21 after.
Left unexplained were a number of non-significant VT events occurring 56 times before the procedure and 49 times after. Theis said there were insufficient data to explain why there wasn’t a similar reduction in these kinds of events.
The MitraClip was designed to treat patients with mitral regurgitation who were not eligible for surgery to repair or replace the mitral valve.
Abbot received FDA approval for the MitraClip in 2013 after some contention within the FDA over its efficacy. Evidence from the Everest II clinical trial in 2014 showed positive results after a year of monitoring the device’s use in patients, showing an 84% reduction in mitral regurgitation after treatment.