General Anesthesia Leads to Underestimation of Regurgitation Severity in Patients With Secondary Mitral Regurgitation Undergoing Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair

Objectives To evaluate the effect of general anesthesia (GA) on severity of mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients undergoing transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR). Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary care university hospital. Participants Fifty consecutive patients with symptomatic severe MR and extremely high surgical risk. Intervention TMVR under GA. Measurements and Results Transesophageal echocardiography was performed during the preprocedural workup under conscious sedation and during TMVR under GA. After the parameters of MR were assessed, color-flow jet area (CJA), vena contracta (VC), effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA), regurgitant volume (RVOL), three-dimensional (3D) vena contracta area (VCA), and severity of MR were compared between the two examinations.In patients with primary MR (n = 11), there were no significant differences in CJA, VC, EROA, RVOL, or 3D-VCA between pre- and intraprocedural transesophageal echocardiography. In patients with secondary MR (n = 39), GA led to significant decreases of CJA (10 ± 7 v 7 ± 3 cm², p < 0.001), VC (5.5 ± 1.6 v 4.7 ± 1.5 mm, p = 0.002), EROA (30 ± 11 v 24 ± 10 mm², p < 0.001), and RVOL (47 ± 17 v 34 ± 13 mL/beat, p < 0.001). Consequently, GA led to a downgrade of regurgitation severity classification in 44% of patients when assessed by two-dimensional analysis. When evaluated by 3D analysis, GA also led to a significant but less extensive decrease of MR (3D-VCA: 66 ± 27 v 60 ± 29 mm², p = 0.002), and subsequent downgrade of MR classification in 20% of patients. Conclusions GA underestimates regurgitation severity in patients with secondary, but not primary MR, undergoing TMVR. This effect must be considered when evaluating the immediate result of the procedure.