Transcatheter mitral repair passed surgical mitral repair in Medicare in 2016
In Medicare's record, transcatheter edge-to-edge repair — clipping the mitral valve leaflets through a catheter — overtook surgical mitral repair in 2016. By 2024, an estimated 14,000 transcatheter repairs were funded across Medicare against 4,000 surgical.
Both series climbed, then diverged. Surgical repair held an estimated 5,000 procedures in 2015; transcatheter repair rose from 2,000 and moved ahead after 2016.
The crossing is specific to the Medicare population. The transcatheter clip was first approved for higher-risk patients, so it pulled ahead here earlier than in the all-payer national picture.
The two series run close right at the crossing. The exact year is sensitive to how early co-billing is counted, though the transcatheter approach is clearly ahead within a year either way. On the raw fee-for-service record, 2024 ran about 7,000 transcatheter to 2,000 surgical.
A volume record, not a verdict on which approach is right for any patient — it compares no outcomes and asserts no equivalence.
Estimated total-Medicare mitral valve REPAIR procedures by approach — transcatheter edge-to-edge and surgical — 2015 to 2024.
Not a comparison to mitral valve REPLACEMENT (a separate operation, excluded — this compares repair to repair), not billed claim lines, and not all-payer (the crossing year is specific to Medicare).