Tricuspid Valve Disorders

UCLA Health offers expert structural heart care for tricuspid valve disorders, with minimally invasive treatment options designed to reduce symptoms, improve heart function, and shorten recovery time.

What Is Tricuspid Regurgitation?

The tricuspid valve works like a one-way door on the right side of the heart. It should close tightly after blood moves through. Tricuspid regurgitation happens when the valve does not close all the way, causing blood to leak backward. This makes the heart work harder and can lead to symptoms that affect daily life, such as:

• Fast weight gain from fluid buildup
• Feeling very tired
• Shortness of breath
• Swelling in the legs, stomach or belly area (ascites)

Medicine can help manage symptoms, but it can’t fix the valve leak. When symptoms are severe and medicine is not enough, UCLA Health’s heart team may recommend a catheter-based procedure to repair or replace the valve without open heart surgery.

How We Treat Tricuspid Regurgitation

UCLA Health offers two advanced transcatheter (catheter-based) options to treat tricuspid regurgitation. Both are minimally invasive, done under general anesthesia and delivered through a small puncture in the groin using the femoral vein.

Tricuspid transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER)

A small clip is guided into the heart using a catheter. The clip brings the valve leaflets closer together so the valve can close better. This reduces the backward leak and helps blood move forward the right way.

Transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement (TTVR)

A new valve (the EVOQUE valve) is compressed inside a catheter, guided into the heart and expanded inside the patient’s natural tricuspid valve. The new valve starts working right away to reduce or stop the leak.

Benefits to tricuspid TEER and TTVR include:

• Improved breathing and less swelling for many patients
• Less pain after the procedure
• No open-heart surgery
• Shorter recovery time

UCLA Health’s Team Approach

UCLA Health’s dedicated heart team works with patients, families and referring physicians to create personalized care plans. Weekly team conferences allow the heart team members to review each case collectively. Patients can ask questions, review their prognosis and get a joint recommendation for the best treatment strategy.