ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07796659EXPLORE_MRaceUpdated Sep 1, 2026

EXPLORE MRace (GE): Early Feasibility Experience of Posterior Leaflet Restoration to Reduce Mitral Regurgitation Using the MRace Implant

An interventional study of Transcatheter mitral valve repair (MRace Implant and Delivery System) in Mitral Valve Disease, sponsored by Polares Medical SA. Recruiting at 4 sites in Georgia. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-01.

Sponsored by Polares Medical SA · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 4 years 3 months after the study started (first participant enrolled May 2022, registered Aug 2026).
  • Started May 2022; still recruiting 4 years 5 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
100
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

An early feasibility study to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the MRace Implant and Delivery System to treat severe mitral regurgitation and to gather preliminary data on its performance thereby providing guidance for future clinical development. The study is a single-arm registry with the last follow-up visit at 5 years post-intervention. The study will enroll up to 100 patients at four (4) centers in the Republic of Georgia.

Read the detailed description

Percutaneous approaches to treat MR promise to provide a sufficient reduction in MR without the risks typically associated with open heart surgery. Furthermore there is an unmet clinical need for patients with severe MR who are refused or denied surgery due to high risk. Percutaneous therapy provides a novel alternative treatment option for these patients with the aim of reducing morbidity and mortality over and above current medical therapy. The Polares Medical MRace Implant and Delivery System is a catheter-based technology designed to permanently implant a prosthesis using a transvenous / transseptal approach to augment the posterior mitral valve leaflet and improve coaptation with the anterior leaflet. Approved edge-to-edge repair has already been shown to be a viable alternative for high risk MR patients. However treatment with these devices is limited to specific anatomies and often requires multiple devices which increases clinical risk, adds to procedural time, and can result in residual MR. The MRace Implant and Delivery System has been designed to overcome and mitigate some of these shortfalls

02

Conditions studied

  • Mitral Valve Disease

Keywords

  • MR
  • FMR
  • Secondary MR
  • MVR
  • Mitral valve regurgitation
03

In context

Mitral Valve Insufficiency

468 studies on the registry are indexed under Mitral Valve Insufficiency; 164 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 100 is above the median of 68 across 279 interventional studies indexed under Mitral Valve Insufficiency.

Browse Mitral Valve Insufficiency studies →

Lead sponsor

Polares Medical SA is the lead sponsor of 11 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. 18 years of age or older
  2. Greater than moderate mitral regurgitation (Grade 3+ or higher) as confirmed by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) within 90 days prior to study procedure
  3. Patient must present with an STS Score less than 10%
  4. High surgical risk for conventional mitral repair or replacement due to morphological criteria (e.g. leaflet or annulus calcifications), but operable, as assessed by the local heart team comprised of a cardiac surgeon experienced in mitral valve surgery and a cardiologist experienced in treating mitral valve disease and heart failure
  5. (NYHA) Functional Class III or IV
  6. Patient willing to participate in study and provide signed IRB/EC-approved
  7. Treating physician and patient agree that patient is able to return for all required post-procedure follow-up visits

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Severe tricuspid regurgitation
  2. Severe aortic stenosis or insufficiency
  3. Severe mitral annulus calcification
  4. Diseased mitral anterior leaflet such as flail / prolapse/ heavy calcification
  5. Implanted vena cava filter
  6. Femoral veins with severe angulation and calcification
  7. for transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) or MDCT scan
  8. Active infection or endocarditis
  9. Previous mitral valve surgery
  10. Prior orthotopic heart transplantation
  11. Pulmonary artery systolic hypertension > 70mmHg
  12. Evidence of intra-cardiac, inferior vena cava (IVC) or femoral venous thrombus
  13. (LVEF) \< 20%
  14. Implant or revision of any pacing device \< 30 days prior to intervention
  15. Symptomatic coronary artery disease treated \< 30 days prior to study procedure
  16. Myocardial infarction requiring intervention \< 30 days prior to study procedure
  17. Infiltrative cardiomyopathies (e.g., amyloidosis, hemochromatosis, sarcoidosis), hypertrophic or restrictive cardiomyopathies, and constrictive pericarditis
  18. Active peptic ulcer or upper gastrointestinal bleeding \< 90 days prior to study procedure
  19. Stroke \< 180 days prior to study procedure
  20. Severe renal insufficiency (creatinine > 3.0 mg/dL) or Subject requiring dialysis
  21. Cardiogenic shock at time of enrollment
  22. Hemodynamic instability requiring inotropic support or mechanical heart assistance
  23. Concurrent medical condition with a of less than 2 years
  24. Pregnancy or breastfeeding at time of enrollment
  25. History of bleeding diathesis or coagulopathy or leukopenia (WBC \< 3,000 mcL) or acute anemia ( \< 9 g/dL) or thrombocytopenia ( \< 50,000 cells mcL)
  26. Known or contraindication to aspirin, heparin, ticlopidine or clopidogrel, nitinol, tantalum or allergy to contrast agents that cannot be pre-medicated
  27. Emergency situations
  28. Severe dementia or lack of capacity due to conditions that result in either inability to provide for the trial/procedure, prevent independent lifestyle outside of a chronic care facility, or will fundamentally complicate rehabilitation from the procedure or compliance with follow-up assessments
  29. Company employees or their immediate family members
  30. Subject is under guardianship
  31. Subject is participating in another clinical study for which follow-up is currently ongoing.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(8)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

NYHA class (heart failure)

The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.

I
No limits: ordinary activity causes no undue tiredness or breathlessness.
II
Slight limits: comfortable at rest, ordinary activity causes symptoms.
III
Marked limits: comfortable at rest, less than ordinary activity causes symptoms.
IV
Symptoms even at rest; any activity makes them worse.

Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)

The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
100 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    MRace Arm

    Single-arm study of MRace Implant and Delivery System to treat severe mitral regurgitation All enrolled patients will receive the study device

    Device: Transcatheter mitral valve repair (MRace Implant and Delivery System)

Interventions

  • DeviceTranscatheter mitral valve repair (MRace Implant and Delivery System)

    The MRace Implant is placed mitral valve posterior annulus using its delivery system via femoral vein access and a transeptal puncture

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Primary safety outcome

    Incidence of all-cause mortality following treatment with the MRace Implant and Delivery System

    Time frame: 30-days follow-up

  2. Primary Performance Endpoint

    Incidence of change from severe mitral regurgitation at baseline (Grade 3+ or more) to moderate or less mitral regurgitation (Grade 2+ or less) following treatment with the MRace Implant and Delivery System as evaluated by TTE

    Time frame: 30-days follow-up

07

Study locations

4 of 4 sites recruiting
  • Israeli-Georgian Medical Research Clinic Healthycore
    Tbilisi, 0112, Georgia
    Recruiting
  • LLC "Emergency Cardilogy Center by Acad. G. Chapidze"
    Tbilisi, 0159, Georgia
    Recruiting
  • Ltd Tbilisi Heart and Vascular Clinic
    Tbilisi, 0159, Georgia
    Recruiting
    • Teona Zirakashvili, MD · Contactzirakashvilit@gmail.com · + 995 555 291 018
    • Tamaz Shaburishvili, MD · Principal investigator
  • Ltd Tbilisi Heart Centre
    Tbilisi, 0186, Georgia
    Recruiting
    • Ketevan Gabunia, MD · Contactkgabunia@tbhc.ge · +995 599 577 977
    • Archil Chukhrukidze, MD · Principal investigator
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 1, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07796659
Lead sponsor
Polares Medical SA
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 1, 2026
Start date
May 23, 2022
Primary completion
Dec 2032 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2032 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 1, 2026

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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