Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER) — MitraClip / TriClip
Minimally invasive catheter-based mitral and tricuspid valve repair — treating severe valve leakage without open-heart surgery.
What is It?
Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER) is a minimally invasive, catheter-based procedure used to treat leaking heart valves — specifically the mitral valve and the tricuspid valve. When these valves leak significantly (a condition known as valve regurgitation), the heart must work harder, leading to symptoms such as breathlessness, fatigue and fluid retention.
TEER repairs the valve by placing a small clip device that gently brings the valve leaflets closer together, allowing the valve to close more effectively and reducing leakage — all without the need for open-heart surgery.
At One Heart Centre, our structural heart specialists have expert training in performing TEER procedures, offering patients with severe valve disease a proven, less invasive treatment pathway.
Why is It Performed?
At One Heart Centre, our cardiologists and heart team may recommend TEER to:
- Treat severe mitral regurgitation or tricuspid regurgitation
- Improve debilitating symptoms such as breathlessness, reduced exercise tolerance and fluid retention
- Reduce hospital admissions related to heart failure
- Improve overall quality of life and functional capacity
- Provide an effective treatment option for patients who are not suitable candidates for open-heart surgery
- Stabilise valve function and protect heart performance over the long term
Your cardiologist and the multidisciplinary heart team at One Heart Centre will carefully assess your valve condition, symptoms and overall health to determine whether TEER is the most appropriate treatment for you.
What Does the Test Involve?
TEER is performed in a specialised hospital cardiac catheterisation laboratory under general anaesthesia.
A thin catheter is inserted through a vein in the groin and gently guided to the heart. Using live X-ray and transoesophageal ultrasound guidance, the repair device (clip) is precisely positioned on the affected valve. The clip grasps the valve leaflets and brings them together at the point of greatest leakage, allowing the valve to close more effectively.
Once optimal valve function is confirmed on real-time imaging, the device is released and the catheter is removed. The procedure generally takes 1.5–3 hours, depending on complexity. Most patients stay in hospital for 1–2 nights for observation and monitoring.
What are the Benefits?
- Effectively reduces valve leakage and improves heart function
- Significant improvement in breathlessness, fatigue and fluid retention
- Minimally invasive — no chest incision or open-heart surgery
- Faster recovery and shorter hospital stay compared with traditional surgery
- Improved quality of life and physical capacity
- Suitable for patients at high surgical risk or those unsuitable for open-heart surgery