Combined Mitral and Tricuspid Versus Isolated Mitral Valve Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair in Patients With Symptomatic Valve Regurgitation at High Surgical Risk.

OBJECTIVES

The present study aimed to test the clinical benefit of combined transcatheter mitral plus tricuspid valve edge-to-edge repair (TMTVR) as compared with transcatheter mitral valve edge-to-edge repair (TMVR) alone in patients with both significant mitral (MR) and tricuspid regurgitation (TR) at high surgical risk.

BACKGROUND

A growing number of patients with severe MR at increased surgical risk are treated by transcatheter techniques. Evidence suggests that residual TR remains a predictor of adverse outcome in these patients.

METHODS

Sixty-one patients (mean age 79.5 ± 8.4 years, EuroSCORE II 8.6 ± 5.9%) underwent TMTVR (n = 27) or TMVR (n = 34). Echocardiographic and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was performed before and after the procedure.

RESULTS

Reduction of MR was similar in patients undergoing TMTVR and TMVR. Effective regurgitant orifice area of TR was reduced from 0.51 to 0.29 cm in patients with TMTVR (p < 0.01), but remained unchanged after TMVR. On cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, only patients in the TMTVR group exhibited improved effective right and left ventricular stroke volume, and increased cardiac index (2.1 vs. 2.5 l/min/m; p < 0.01). TMTVR led to superior improvement in New York Heart Association functional class, NT-proBNP levels, and 6-min walking distance as compared with TMVR. After up to 18 months of follow-up, patients with TMTVR experienced fewer hospitalizations for heart failure when compared with patients with TMVR (p = 0.02), whereas rates of death were comparable between both groups of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

TMTVR appears superior to TMVR in terms of cardiac output and functional improvement early after the intervention, and improves clinical outcome up to 18 months of follow-up.