Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) is at present a well established interventional procedure for the treatment of mitral regurgitation (MR). Echocardiography is an essential imaging modality for peri-interventional assessment of TEER. Pre-procedural echocardiographic assessments, which include grading of MR severity, determining MR etiology and mechanisms, and analyzing mitral valve morphology, helps to determine patient eligibility and plan the procedure. Echocardiography is also indispensable in intra-procedural guidance, such as atrial septum puncture, advancing the device to the target position, and leaflets capture. In addition, echocardiography is important in immediate result evaluation, complication detection and patient follow up after the procedure.
In recent years, transcatheter mitral valve replacement is a focused issue in the field of valve intervention, which brings hope to mitral regurgitation patients who are not suitable for surgical thoracotomy. This paper presents the case of echocardiography-guided transseptal mitral valve replacement with the HighLife system in an elderly female patient with severe mitral regurgitation who failed to respond to standard medical therapy. During the procedure, echocardiography was used to guide the wire looping, cinching, atrial septal puncture, ring closure, atrial septal balloon dilatation, prosthetic valve implantation and immediate postoperative evaluation. Echocardiography plays an important role in transseptal mitral valve replacement, which can help the procedural process and improve the safety of the procedure.