Mitral Valve Regurgitation
The mitral valve is located between the left atrium and left ventricle
Mitral regurgitation: bloodflow is partially redirected into the left atrium and lungs
The mitral valve is one of the four valves in the human heart, located between the left atrium and left ventricle. In the US, each year 4 million people suffer from mitral valve regurgitation, in which the forward blood flow is partially redirected backward into the left atrium and lungs.
Although transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has rapidly developed into a $3b market, TMVR has lagged, due to the clinical complexity of mitral valve disease. Issues include the location of the mitral valve embedded between the left atrium and left ventricle, its proximity to other cardiac structures, and the relatively large diameter of access required for transseptal delivery of complete TMVR devices - the preferred procedure for cardiologists.
If these clinical challenges can be overcome, the relative incidence of mitral valve disease implies a potential market for TMVR to be 4X that of TAVR. The TTVR market is forecast to be smaller, but still substantial.