Objectives: We report the first pledget-assisted suture tricuspid annuloplasty (PASTA) in a patient with torrential tricuspid regurgitation (TR).
Background: Tricuspid valve regurgitation is a common malignant disease with no commercially available transcatheter therapy. PASTA is a "percutaneous surgical" procedure using pledgeted sutures to create a double-orifice tricuspid valve.
Methods: An 83-year-old man had end-stage TR caused by a defibrillator lead. He consented to undergo PASTA on a compassionate basis. A double-orifice valve was created with pledgeted sutures from percutaneous right ventricular apical access.
Results: TR was reduced from torrential to trace. The vena contracta reduced to from 23 to 1 mm and annular area reduced from 1817 to 782 mm2 . However, the annulus dehisced and required closure with a percutaneous nitinol plug. The patient was discharged home and was alive 6 months later but with persistent symptoms.
Conclusions: The anatomy of a double-orifice valve can eliminate TR but a better solution is required to avoid excessive suture tension on annular tissue.
Keywords: percutaneous tricuspid valve repair; transcatheter electrosurgery; tricuspid valve regurgitation.
Published 2020. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.