Impact of the learning curve on outcomes after percutaneous mitral valve repair with MitraClip and lessons learned after the first 75 consecutive patients.

Aims: Mitral valve regurgitation plays a significant role in the aetiology and course of heart failure. We investigated the impact of the learning curve on outcomes after percutaneous mitral valve repair with MitraClip.

Methods And Results: Outcomes of the first 75 consecutive patients treated with MitraClip at our centre were stratified by subsequent treatment periods (25 patients each).

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 induces proliferation and interleukin-6 production in human smooth muscle cells by differential activation of nuclear factor-kappaB and activator protein-1.

Inflammatory response and chemotaxis of vascular wall cells play an important pathogenic role in the development of atherosclerosis. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a potent chemoattractant for monocytes. Besides the induction of monocyte recruitment, it has been suggested that MCP-1 may directly activate smooth muscle cells.