Percutaneous mitral and tricuspid valve interventions are alternative treatment options for patients who are deemed to be at high surgical risk and/or inoperable. Transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair using the MitraClip and PASCAL system, which are designed to mimic the surgical Alfieri's stich, has changed the landscape for the treatment of symptomatic functional mitral regurgitation (MR). Previous studies have shown that the procedure can reduce symptoms and improve functional capacity with low rates of complication. Recently, two randomized controlled clinical trials have reported the effect of the MitraClip on outcomes for secondary MR. Next-generation devices, advanced techniques, and additional clinical data would further improve the outcomes following this procedure. Percutaneous direct annuloplasty using the Cardioband system is a relatively new technique that closely resembles surgical annuloplasty. Its role in treating secondary MR as well as its concomitant use with edge-to-edge mitral repair will continue to gain attention. The transapical off-pump mitral valve repair with neochord implantation, known as a NeoChord procedure, is also a new option to implant artificial chords in a minimally invasive manner in MR patients with leaflet prolapse or flail. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement is another emerging treatment option for selected patients. Although the development of transcatheter strategies for tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is still in the early stages, there is growing evidence to support the application of various approaches, including edge-to-edge repair and annuloplasty, to address unmet needs. In this review article, we will summarize the emerging minimally invasive interventions for mitral and tricuspid valves.

Tricuspid valve disease represents a major health problem that affects a wide proportion of heart failure patients with a significant prognostic impact. In recent years an increasing number of minimally invasive and transcatheter treatments have been developed. The choice of the optimal transcatheter device therapy needs a careful patient selection and a dedicated anatomic assessment, mainly based on echocardiographic and computed tomography evaluation. Moreover, cardiac magnetic resonance has an established role in the functional assessment of right heart chambers with relevant prognostic implications. In this review we describe the role of multimodality imaging in the tricuspid valve disease assessment with an intervention-oriented perspective, from the pre-operative planning for different devices to the intraprocedural guide during transcatheter edge-to-edge repair.

We report on a successful tricuspid valve plasty using port-access minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) for severe traumatic tricuspid insufficiency caused by blunt chest trauma suffered 15 years previously. A combination repair procedure, consisting of cleft closures, plication of the anteroseptal commissure, and ring annuloplasty, was necessary to achieve valve competence and proved possible via port access without difficulty. Port-access MICS is an alternative approach for tricuspid valve surgery.

Tricuspid regurgitation is an often overlooked, but severe cardiac valvular disease associated with significant morbidity and poor quality of life. Tricuspid valve surgery is the only treatment that prevents progression of the disease but is often complicated or made impossible by perioperative risk factors. Due to the high-risk nature, tricuspid valve surgery is typically only done for severe tricuspid regurgitation at the time of left heart surgery, leaving many patients untreated. Medical therapy is limited primarily to diuretic agents, which are often unsuccessful in alleviating symptoms. Treatment of tricuspid regurgitation with transcatheter edge-to-edge repair has emerged after the success of this technique in mitral valve pathologies. This percutaneous procedure parallels surgical principles previously used for valve repair but eliminates the need for cardiac surgery, thus having the potential to serve as an alternative treatment in high-risk patients. The TriClip (Abbott Labs) device is an example of this therapy and the subject of this review.

Abstract Background: Tricuspid regurgitation after left-sided valve surgery was associated with terrible outcomes and high perioperative mortality for redo surgical treatment. In current years, minimally invasive redo isolated tricuspid valve repair is increasingly performed in our institution to address tricuspid regurgitation. Methods: Thirty-seven consecutive patients with previous left-sided valve surgery underwent minimally invasive redo isolated tricuspid valve repair in our institution between November 2017 and December 2020. Twenty-nine patients(78.4%) were women and the mean age of patients was 58.4±8.5 years. Follow-up was 100% complete with a mean follow-up time of 16.8±9.4 months.Results: Both the in-hospital and 30-day mortalities were 2.7%. The overall NYHA class had improved significantly during the follow-up(p＜0.001). The grade of TR had decreased before discharge(p＜0.001) and during the follow-up(p＜0.001) compared with the preoperative level although severe TR was recurrent in one patient.Conclusions: Minimally invasive redo isolated tricuspid valve repair has remarkable early and midterm outcomes, may be the preferred surgical option to address tricuspid regurgitation after previous left-sided valve surgery when it is feasible.

Recently, transcatheter treatment of the tricuspid valve was reported as an interventional approach for severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR).1 From May 2016 to January 2017, 8 patients underwent percutaneous transfemoral tricuspid valve edge-to-edge repair using the MitraClip system (Abbott Vascular) as recommended by our interdisciplinary heart team. The patient characteristics and procedural data are described in Table. All patients experienced severe TR and had relevant comorbidities. In 6 out of 8 patients, at least one clip could be placed; in 5 out of these 6 patients, TR could be reduced at least by 1.5 grades. In 4 out of 8 patients, we applied intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) as …

Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is a common acquired valvular heart disease (VHD). TR has progressive character and is associated with impaired long-term survival in both symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects. Despite this knowledge, the overall number of tricuspid valve surgeries is very low worldwide and many patients with clear indications for intervention are left untreated. The development of less invasive transcatheter techniques may offer new treatment options in this growing population of patients. Out of various percutaneous methods proposed, tricuspid edge-to-edge repair has recently gained considerable attention. The article summarizes available data regarding this new treatment method.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of minimally invasive surgery in patients with late severe tricuspid regurgitation after cardiac surgery, and to evaluate the role of leaflets augmentation technique in tricuspid valvuloplasty. Methods: From January 2015 to June 2019, 85 patients undergoing tricuspid valve repair procedure with minimally invasive approach at Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Guangdong provincial People's Hospital were enrolled. There were 22 males and 63 females, aging of (53.6±12.4) years (range: 15 to 75 years). The interval between the prior and current operations was (16.0±7.3) years (range: 0.2 to 35.0 years). The diameter of right atrium and right ventricle was (77.3±17.2) mm and (61.0±8.4) mm, respectively. Tricuspid regurgitation was severe or extremely severe, the tricuspid regurgitation area was (19.0±10.3) cm(2). All patients underwent minimally invasive tricuspid valvuloplasty or tricuspid valve replacement on beating-heart with totally endoscopic technique and port-access approach through right chest wall. The operations included tricuspid valve replacement and tricuspid valvuloplasty, the technique of tricuspid valvuloplasty including leaflets augmentation with patch, ring implantation, chordae tendineaes reconstruction, release of papillary muscle, edge to edge method, etc. Postoperative hospitalization days, the time of ICU stay, blood transfusion rate, ventilator time and the results of echocardiography were recorded. Follow-up was completed regularly by WeChat, telephone and outpatient visit. Results: Sixty-five patients underwent tricuspid valve repair, and 20 patients underwent tricuspid valve replacement because of prosthetic failure and plasty failure. Five patients died during hospitalization, with mortality rate 5.9%. One patient was transferred to local hospital for anti-infection treatment, the other 79 patients were discharged from hospital in well condition and followed-up. The postoperative hospitalization time was 7.0 (5.5) days (M(Q(R))) days, the mean ventilator time was 18.0 (16.2) hours, and the mean ICU stay time was 68.0 (75.5) hours. There were 35 patients without blood conduction transfusion, the transfusion rate was only 58.9% (50/85). Four cases of severe, 9 cases of moderate and 67 cases of mild to zero tricuspid regurgitation were examined before being discharged, with tricuspid regurgitation area of (2.8±3.5) cm(2) (range: 0 to 19.1 cm(2)). The follow-up time was 1 to 38 months. Two patients died during follow-up, one patient died from infective endocarditis and mitral perivalvular leakage, the other one died of intractable right heart failure. One patient was implanted with permanent pacemaker due to Ⅲ atrioventricular block. Valvular re-replacement was performed in 2 patients who were re-admitted for the artificial valve infection and mechanical valve obstruction. No re-operation of tricuspid valve. Conclusions: Totally endoscopic minimally invasive technique provided satisfactory surgical outcomes for critically sick patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation following cardiac surgery. The application of leaflets augmentation technique achieved ideal repair effect for previously unrepairable lesions.

Growing evidence indicates that severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is independently associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The prognostic benefit of isolated TR surgery remains unclear, and medical therapy for decompensated right heart failure alone cannot delay disease progression. TR assessment and management have substantially evolved in recent years. Currently, minimally invasive catheter-based techniques have emerged as a feasible and effective option for TR treatment in high-risk surgical patients. Transcatheter tricuspid valve edge-to-edge repair (T-TEER) has been proposed and applied as an interventional treatment for TR, and has yielded promising preliminary results. This review provides an overview of the current state of T-TEER.

Tricuspid valve regurgitation has a high prevalence and, when severe, is associated with poor outcomes. Nevertheless, surgical repair or replacement (isolated or as a part of a combined procedure) is rarely performed due to high surgical risk. Therefore, there is a significant unmet clinical need for percutaneous transcatheter-based treatments. Significant development in percutaneous therapies for both aortic and mitral valve disease has been accomplished over the last two decades, while transcatheter therapies for the tricuspid valve are still at an early stage. We are today at a cross-road of new transcatheter devices that are becoming available for the treatment of tricuspid regurgitation; the current review evaluates the challenges that current and future technologies have to face in order to become a safer, less invasive and equally effective alternative to surgery.