There are some patients who suffer from severe mitral valve disease that are not good candidates to undergo traditional open-heart surgery. For these patients, there are options. Some patients with severe mitral valve regurgitation (“a leaky mitral valve”) may be candidates for a less invasive procedure, called a MitraClip procedure. This procedure attempts to repair the leaky mitral valve without undergoing open heart surgery. During this procedure, a small incision in the made in the groin and a tube is passed up through the leg vessels to the right side. The tube is then passed through a small hole in the heart to the left side of the heart, which is the side where the mitral valve is located. The MitraClip device is then positioned at the location of the leaking mitral valve and used to “grasp” the leaflets of the diseased mitral valve. In many cases, this reduces the amount of mitral valve regurgitation and therefore improves the patient’s symptoms of shortness of breath, easy fatigue, and/or swelling. Following a successful procedure, patients often have an improved quality of life and reduced need for hospitalization due to shortness of breath.