Avenatti E, et al. - Researchers assessed the changes in left atrial (LA) stiffness after transcutaneous mitral valve repair by reviewing baseline, procedural, and 30-day follow up clinical and imaging data of patients undergoing MitraClip. The ratio of systolic change in LA pressure to LA systolic strain and to stroke volume was calculated in order to measure LA operating chamber stiffness. Including 35 patients (21 with primary and 14 with functional MR), they carried out a matched pre- and post-procedure LA strain analysis. They found that regardless of MR etiology, a decrease in LA operating chamber stiffness was observed post-MitraClip. Furthermore, LA operating chamber stiffness was found to be associated with pulmonary artery systolic pressure and functional status.