Based on promising early clinical results, Sawgrass Veterinary Cardiology (SVC) is happy to be offering the TEER procedure, a minimally invasive beating-heart mitral valve repair for dogs with severe mitral regurgitation (MR).
Transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (TEER Procedure) is a minimally invasive beating-heart intervention for treatment of severe mitral regurgitation secondary to degenerative mitral valve disease. Worldwide, the TEER procedure (MitraClip) has been performed in more than 100,000 human patients and is now considered an alternative to surgical mitral valve repair.
The TEER procedure in dogs is performed under general anesthesia through a small incision in the chest wall (2”) and transapical cardiac approach in the beating heart under fluoroscopic and transesophageal echocardiography guidance with a device called the V-Clamp. Early clinical evaluation of the TEER procedure over the last two plus years at Colorado State University have been associated with low-risk, meaningful decreases in MR severity, and improved quality of life.
Patients are typically walking outside the day after the procedure and released from the hospital within 1-2 days.
Key Points:
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Precise Leaflet Capture
Eligibility: Dogs must be under the care of a veterinary cardiologist. Inclusion criteria are:
Initial eligibility is determined by the SVC TEER Team after echocardiographic evaluation of the patient by SVC or review of referring cardiologist’s report and appropriate echocardiographic DICOM images to allow for proper assessment of the mitral valve pathology and size. Final determination for eligibility is made under anesthesia by transesophageal echocardiography just prior to the procedure.
A downloadable link to the Dicom images should be sent to the SVC.TEER@gmail.com or contact SVC for further guidance to a shareable folder.
Costs: Total cost of the procedure is estimated to be between $16,000 and $19,000. This break down into 2 categories: medical costs of the procedure (pre-op evaluation, procedure, aftercare) which are estimated at $7K to $9K and the V-Clamp device which is ~ $8500. Some dogs may need two devices to achieve the best results and currently there is no additional charge for the second device when placed during the initial procedure.
Follow-Up Care: Patients will have regular follow-up exams for a minimum of 1 year to assess the results of the TEER procedure which can be performed with SVC or the referring cardiologist. However, patient’s will likely continue to need veterinary cardiology care for life.
Contact Sawgrass Veterinary Cardiology today to learn more about how to get initial eligibility for your dog and to schedule an appointment.
