Tricuspid Annuloplasty: Transcatheter Approaches.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

New transcatheter techniques to perform tricuspid annuloplasty are evolving and are introduced into the clinical routine. Yet, clinical experience is limited.

RECENT FINDINGS

Currently, 3 different techniques for tricuspid annuloplasty have been used in larger clinical cohorts. They can be divided into direct annuloplasty techniques and suture plication techniques. The largest clinical evidence is related to direct annuloplasty techniques. It has been shown that annular dimensions can be effectively reduced. This translates into an improvement of the degree of tricuspid regurgitation and improvement of clinical symptoms. Due to the newness of this type of therapy, long-term data is limited, but for one of the described techniques, published data show that the positive effects persist over a 2-year period. Transcatheter approaches are safe and are able to treat tricuspid regurgitation effectively. There are still differences in the efficacy of the different techniques. Clinical experience varies among the different approaches.