Severe tricuspid regurgitation is associated with fatigue, lower extremity edema or swelling, and can lead to liver disease. Over time, untreated tricuspid regurgitation can lead to hypertension. Management of significant tricuspid regurgitation has been predominant with the use of medications, such as diuretics, to relieve symptoms, but it rarely affects the actual severity of the disease.
Isolated tricuspid regurgitation surgery is an infrequently performed procedure due to the associated morbidity of the procedure and the limited improvement in mortality observed among multiple studies.
For this reason, percutaneous therapies to treat the tricuspid valve have been explored. One of the more promising therapies is tricuspid transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (T-TEER). One device, the TriClip system (Abbott Medical System), was studied in the TRILUMINATE trial, which compared treatment of severe tricuspid regurgitation with T-TEER versus usual management.
The findings of this trial showed a significant improvement in the primary outcome (i.e., mortality, heart failure, hospitalization, quality of life, as measured by Kanas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ12) driven by improvement in quality treatment strategy also resulting in additional benefits to the patients, including more excellent clinical and hemodynamic improvement at 24 hours, less clinical deterioration or escalation of treatment, fewer readmission within 30 days, decreased ICU use and fewer hospital days.
Learn more about Northside Hospital Heart Institute.
