Can isolated annular dilatation cause significant ischemic mitral regurgitation? Another look at the causative mechanisms

A Comprehensive Engineering Analysis of Left Heart Dynamics After MitraClip in a Functional Mitral Regurgitation Patient

Percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve (MV) repair using MitraClip has been recently established as a treatment option for patients with heart failure and functional mitral regurgitation (MR), which significantly expands the number of patients that can be treated with this device. This study aimed to quantify the morphologic, hemodynamic and structural changes, and evaluate the biomechanical interaction between the MitraClip and the left heart (LH) complex of a heart failure patient with functional MR using a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling framework. MitraClip implantation using lateral, central and double clip positions, as well as combined annuloplasty procedures were simulated in a patient-specific LH model that integrates detailed anatomic structures, incorporates age- and gender-matched non-linear elastic material properties, and accounts for mitral chordae tethering. Our results showed that antero-posterior distance, mitral annulus spherecity index, anatomic regurgitant orifice area, and anatomic opening orifice area decreased by up to 28, 39, 52, and 71%, respectively, when compared to the pre-clip model. MitraClip implantation immediately decreased the MR severity and improved the hemodynamic profile, but imposed a non-physiologic configuration and loading on the mitral apparatus, with anterior and posterior leaflet stress significantly increasing up to 210 and 145% during diastole, respectively. For this patient case, while implanting a combined central clip and ring resulted in the highest reduction in the regurgitant volume (46%), this configuration also led to mitral stenosis. Patient-specific computer simulations as used here can be a powerful tool to examine the complex device-host biomechanical interaction, and may be useful to guide device positioning for potential favorable clinical outcomes.

New insights into mitral heart valve prolapse after chordae rupture through fluid-structure interaction computational modeling

Mitral valve (MV) dynamics depends on a force balance across the mitral leaflets, the chordae tendineae, the mitral annulus, the papillary muscles and the adjacent ventricular wall. Chordae rupture disrupts the link between the MV and the left ventricle (LV), causing mitral regurgitation (MR), the most common valvular disease. In this study, a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling framework is implemented to investigate the impact of chordae rupture on the left heart (LH) dynamics and severity of MR. A control and seven chordae rupture LH models were developed to simulate a pathological process in which minimal chordae rupture precedes more extensive chordae rupture. Different non-eccentric and eccentric regurgitant jets were identified during systole. Cardiac efficiency was evaluated by the ratio of external stroke work. MV structural results showed that basal/strut chordae were the major load-bearing chordae. An increased number of ruptured chordae resulted in reduced basal/strut tension, but increased marginal/intermediate load. Chordae rupture in a specific scallop did not necessarily involve an increase in the stress of the entire prolapsed leaflet. This work represents a further step towards patient-specific modeling of pathological LH dynamics, and has the potential to improve our understanding of the biomechanical mechanisms and treatment of primary MR.

Machine learning-based 3-D geometry reconstruction and modeling of aortic valve deformation using 3-D computed tomography images

To conduct a patient-specific computational modeling of the aortic valve, 3-D aortic valve anatomic geometries of an individual patient need to be reconstructed from clinical 3-D cardiac images. Currently, most of computational studies involve manual heart valve geometry reconstruction and manual finite element (FE) model generation, which is both time-consuming and prone to human errors. A seamless computational modeling framework, which can automate this process based on machine learning algorithms, is desirable, as it can not only eliminate human errors and ensure the consistency of the modeling results but also allow fast feedback to clinicians and permits a future population-based probabilistic analysis of large patient cohorts. In this study, we developed a novel computational modeling method to automatically reconstruct the 3-D geometries of the aortic valve from computed tomographic images. The reconstructed valve geometries have built-in mesh correspondence, which bridges harmonically for the consequent FE modeling. The proposed method was evaluated by comparing the reconstructed geometries from 10 patients with those manually created by human experts, and a mean discrepancy of 0.69 mm was obtained. Based on these reconstructed geometries, FE models of valve leaflets were developed, and aortic valve closure from end systole to middiastole was simulated for 7 patients and validated by comparing the deformed geometries with those manually created by human experts, and a mean discrepancy of 1.57 mm was obtained. The proposed method offers great potential to streamline the computational modeling process and enables the development of a preoperative planning system for aortic valve disease diagnosis and treatment.

Finite Element Analysis of Patient-Specific Mitral Valve with Mitral Regurgitation

Functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) is a significant complication of left ventricular dysfunction and strongly associated with a poor prognosis. In this study, we developed a patient-specific finite element (FE) model of the mitral apparatus in a FMR patient which included: both leaflets with thickness, annulus, chordae tendineae, and chordae insertions on the leaflets and origins on the papillary muscles. The FE model incorporated human age- and gender-matched anisotropic hyperelastic material properties, and MV closure at systole was simulated. The model was validated by comparing the FE results from valve closure simulation with the in vivo geometry of the MV at systole. It was found that the FE model could not replicate the in vivo MV geometry without the application of tethering pre-tension force in the chordae at diastole. Upon applying the pre-tension force and performing model optimization by adjusting the chordal length, position, and leaflet length, a good agreement between the FE model and the in vivo model was established. Not only were the chordal forces high at both diastole and systole, but the tethering force on the anterior papillary muscle was higher than that of the posterior papillary muscle, which resulted in an asymmetrical gap with a larger orifice area at the anterolateral commissure resulting in MR. The analyses further show that high peak stress and strain were found at the chordal insertions where large chordal tethering forces were found. This study shows that the pre-tension tethering force plays an important role in accurately simulating the MV dynamics in this FMR patient, particularly in quantifying the degree of leaflet coaptation and stress distribution. Due to the complexity of the disease, the patient-specific computational modeling procedure of FMR patients presented should be further evaluated using a large patient cohort. However, this study provides useful insights into the MV biomechanics of a FMR patient, and could serve as a tool to assist in pre-operative planning for MV repair or replacement surgical or interventional procedures.

Increased systolic load causes adverse remodeling of fetal aortic and mitral valves

While abnormal hemodynamic forces alter fetal myocardial growth, little is known about whether such insults affect fetal cardiac valve development. We hypothesized that chronically elevated systolic load would detrimentally alter fetal valve growth. Chronically instrumented fetal sheep received either a continuous infusion of adult sheep plasma to increase fetal blood pressure, or a lactated Ringer's infusion as a volume control beginning on day 126 ± 4 of gestation. After 8 days, mean arterial pressure was higher in the plasma infusion group (63.0 mmHg vs. 41.8 mmHg, P < 0.05). Mitral annular septal-lateral diameter (11.9 mm vs. 9.1 mm, P < 0.05), anterior leaflet length (7.7 mm vs. 6.4 mm, P < 0.05), and posterior leaflet length (P2; 4.0 mm vs. 3.0 mm, P < 0.05) were greater in the elevated load group. mRNA levels of Notch-1, TGF-β2, Wnt-2b, BMP-1, and versican were suppressed in aortic and mitral valve leaflets; elastin and α1 type I collagen mRNA levels were suppressed in the aortic valves only. We conclude that sustained elevated arterial pressure load on the fetal heart valve leads to anatomic remodeling and, surprisingly, suppression of signaling and extracellular matrix genes that are important to valve development. These novel findings have important implications on the developmental origins of valve disease and may have long-term consequences on valve function and durability.