No significant sex-based differences in timing of care for M-TEER patients
Previous studies over the years have suggested that women presenting with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) face longer delays in care than men. According to a new single-center study published in JSCAI, however, the rise of multidisciplinary care teams may be helping put an end to that worrisome trend.[1]
The study’s authors reviewed data from nearly 300 patients who presented with severe MR and were ultimately referred for mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (M-TEER). All patients were treated at a single facility from 2014 to 2023. The mean age was 76.6 years old, and 55.8% of patients were men.
Men were more likely to present with atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, a history of prior myocardial infarction, or a history of prior coronary artery bypass grafting. Baseline quality-of-life scores were comparable.
Overall, there were no statistically significant differences between men and women in the time from diagnosis to structural heart team evaluation, the time from structural heart team evaluation to M-TEER or the time from diagnosis to M-TEER. In addition, the time from diagnosis to structural heart team evaluation decreased over time as clinicians gained more experience treating these patients.
“These findings contrast with prior studies demonstrating sex-based differences in cardiovascular care, including lower rates of referral and utilization of invasive therapies among women,” wrote first author Saliha Erdem, MD, an interventional cardiology researcher with the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Institute. “In this cohort, there was no differences in referral timing between men and women, and referral delay got shorter over time, suggesting once patients diagnosed with severe MR, regardless of sex, they are referred to the structural heart program. From there, the timing of evaluation and intervention is also similar between sexes. This may reflect that multidisciplinary heart teams and structured referral pathways are now part of standard of care, and there is increased familiarity with M-TEER in an experienced center with smoother referral processes over time.”
The authors did note that patients with severe MR who did not undergo M-TEER were not included in this study. They also called for more research focused on earlier stages of care for these patients.
Click here to read the full study in JSCAI.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.