REVIEW  TRICUSPID VALVE INTERVENTIONS 

Minerva Cardioangiologica 2018 December;66(6):673-9

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4725.18.04670-4

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Tricuspid valve regurgitation: epidemiology and pathophysiology

Yan TOPILSKY ✉

Division of Cardiology, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Compared with the vast literature concerning the prevalence, pathophysiology, and outcome of left valvular disease, the data concerning tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is very limited. In this review we summarized the present data concerning these important issues. We show that TR is as prevalent as aortic stenosis in the community, with increasing prevalence with age, and much more common in women. We review the present knowledge concerning the pathogenesis of TR, focusing on functional TR. We show that functional TR is multifactorial, resulting from both RV remodeling and pulmonary hypertension, and/or atrial fibrillation resulting in right atrial dilatation. We demonstrate that RV remodeling, mostly in the mid segment, will result in tethering. On the other side, right atrial remodeling will mostly result in pure annular dilatation and loss of valvular/annular coverage reserve. Finally, due to the heterogeneous nature of TR we review the outcome data for each presentation of TR and show that in most contexts TR is associated with very poor outcome, even when adjusted for left ventricular systolic, and diastolic function, pulmonary pressure, and RV dysfunction.

KEY WORDS: Tricuspid valve insufficiency - Prevalence - Epidemiology - Treatment outcome