Pforzheim Tricuspid Valve Registry: A Real-world Observational Trial Evaluating Outcomes in Patients Treated With the Abbott TriClip™ Device in Helios Klinikum Pforzheim

Significant tricuspid regurgitation is a common finding in elderly patients, with an incidence of 5.6% after the age of 70 years, according to the Framingham Heart Study. TR is an independent predictor for adverse prognosis and has limited treatment options. Tricuspid valve (TV) intervention is indicated when symptomatic TR-related right heart failure (RHF) is present. However, the surgical risk is usually deemed to be too high due to the presence of advanced age, pulmonary hypertension, right ventricular (RV) impairment, major organ failure and other co-morbidities. Moreover, isolated tricuspid valve surgery has an in-hospital mortality of approx. 8,7%, according to recent data.

High TR prevalence, coupled with low incidence of isolated TV surgery, has created a considerable population in need of alternative, percutaneous therapies to improve outcomes. Recently, a variety of interventional procedures and devices have been developed which simulate different surgical approaches like suture or ring annuloplasty, coaptation enhancement, neochordae repair, or even valve replacement. Among them, coaptation devices attempt to correct leaflet malcoaptation by using the edge-to-edge clip technique, similar to treatment of functional mitral regurgitation. To date, most TTVR interventions have been performed off-label with the MitraClip device.

Last year, the first TR dedicated device (TriClipTM, Abbott Medical) has been approved (CE mark), after showing good feasibility, safety and effectiveness, and meanwhile sustained and marked clinical benefit with low mortality after 12 months.

Although most TTVR studies have enrolled high-risk cohorts, criteria for patient selection and timing of intervention have yet to be defined. Based on scientific surgical data, it seems reasonable to expect poorer outcomes in patients with several comorbidities, advanced cardiac remodeling and RHF-related major organ dysfunction e.g., renal and hepatic function impairment. Whether or not this assumption can be extrapolated to TTVR needs to be investigated.

In this registry, the investigators aim to evaluate if percutaneous therapy with the TriClip system is safe and effective in patients at high and prohibitive risk and wether or not procedural success is the main determinant of short-, mid- and long-term outcomes.