Transcatheter tricuspid valve intervention techniques and procedural steps for the treatment of tricuspid regurgitation: a review of the literature

Abstract

Severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is an undertreated common pathology associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Classically, surgical repair or valve replacement were the only therapeutic options and are associated with up to 10% postprocedural mortality. Transcatheter tricuspid valve interventions are a novel and effective therapeutic option for the treatment of significant TR. Several devices have been developed with different mechanisms of action. They are classified as annuloplasty devices, replacement devices, caval valve implantation and coaptation devices. In this review, we provide a step-by-step description of the procedural steps and techniques of every device along with video support.

A multifunctional soft robot for cardiac interventions

“…We therefore integrated a multi-DoF soft robot to expand the device's task space. The soft robot was designed to collapse to a diameter of 24 Fr, allowing it to fit in peripheral blood vessels (40)(41)(42)(43), and then expand once inside the heart to increase its surface area and force output. The soft robot further addresses the challenge of instability in a motile environment through its inherent material damping.…”

“…The discrepancy in scale between the vasculature and heart chambers forces the interventional tools used in the heart to remain small. Interventional catheters must traverse up to a meter or more through peripheral blood vessels, which can accommodate devices up to 8 mm in diameter (i.e., 24 Fr) (40)(41)(42)(43). However, the right atrium (RA), the smallest of the four chambers, has an apicobasal diameter ranging from 34.9 to 58.6 mm (44).…”