United States-based healthcare company Abbott (NYSE:ABT) announced on Sunday that late-breaking data for MitraClip, a therapy utilised for the treatment of leaky valves in patients with mitral regurgitation (MR), claims long-term benefits of the device in patients battling heart failure.

The company stated that five-year outcome from the COAPT trial demonstrated that MitraClip is safe and effective and can reduce the rate of hospitalisations while improving survival for heart failure patients with severe secondary (or functional) mitral regurgitation (MR).

In the COAPT trial, symptomatic heart failure patients with severe secondary MR (a condition in which a leaky valve caused by problems affecting other areas of the heart allows blood to flow back through the mitral valve) were randomized to receive treatment with MitraClip plus guideline-directed medical therapy or guideline-directed medical therapy alone. The primary results of the COAPT trial through two years found MitraClip to be superior to guideline-directed medical therapy in patients with significant secondary MR.

Now, after five years of patient follow-up, the company said that data from the COAPT trial demonstrated even more substantial benefits for patients, including that MitraClip reduced the risk of annualised hospitalisations by around half (33% per year compared to 57% in the control group), decreased the risk of death by around 30% (57% vs. 67% in the control group) and achieved durable MR decrease, with 95% of patients experiencing decreased MR from moderate-to-severe or severe (grade greater than or equal to three+ on a four-point scale) to mild or moderate (grade greater than or equal to two+).

The results were presented at the American College of Cardiology's 72nd Annual Scientific Session together with World Congress of Cardiology (ACC.23/WCC) held in New Orleans (4-6 March 2023).