(photo: UNC School of Medicine)

 

For the first time at the University of North Carolina, cardiologists were able to implant a percutaneous transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement device to treat severe tricuspid valve regurgitation. One of only around 50 sites in the U.S. participating in the TRISCEND II clinical trial, experts at UNC believe this therapy is going to dramatically change treatment options for patients.

Previously, this valvular heart disease would need to be treated using open-heart surgery. However, many patients are too ill to undergo this operation and remain untreated.

Through the TRISCEND II clinical trial, the University of North Carolina Structural Heart Team placed a small tube in a patient’s leg vein known as a catheter. During this minimally invasive procedure cardiologists used advanced imaging to reach the heart and implant the EVOQUE tricuspid valve. The device acts as a leaflet would in a healthy heart, opening and closing to let blood through.

Read more on the trial and the UNC team here.