Cardiology team performs novel heart artery repair with newly approved device

 UC Davis Health cardiology team members are among the first in the country to treat patients with tricuspid regurgitation, or a leaky heart valve, by using a groundbreaking catheter.

The minimally invasive procedure, a transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER), is made possible with a new medical device called the Abbott TriClip™ system.

UC Davis Medical Center is one of the first sites nationwide to have commercial access to TriClip and is the first hospital in Western United States to utilize the system since it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week. UC Davis also hosted clinical trials for the procedure in 2023."We are excited to offer our patients this novel treatment that offers meaningful improvement in quality of life without the high procedural risk often associated with tricuspid surgery," said Gagan D. Singh, associate professor of cardiovascular medicine and the surgeon who performed the first procedure at UC Davis Medical Center.

Tricuspid regurgitation is a condition in which the tricuspid valve of the heart fails to close completely. This can allow blood to leak backward into the atrium from the tricuspid valve, causing the patient's heart to pump harder to move blood through the valve.

Tricuspid regurgitation affects an estimated 1.6 million Americans. Symptoms include active pulsing in the neck veins, enlarged liver, fatigue and swelling throughout the body.

Current nonsurgical treatments include diuretics (medicines that help remove excess fluid and salt) and drugs aimed at easing symptoms. Left untreated, tricuspid regurgitation can lead to atrial fibrillation, heart failure, kidney disease and even death.

"Severe tricuspid regurgitation is a debilitating condition that is associated with substantial morbidity," said Jason H. Rogers, professor of cardiovascular medicine. "Patients with tricuspid regurgitation are extremely high risk for any type of surgical intervention, so historically they have just been monitored and treated with diuretics."

Source: ScienceDaily